The AudioNotch Tinnitus Treatment Blog

It’s interesting to approach stories on tinnitus with the background knowledge of the science on the subject. The topic of habituation has proven to an important one – simply put, habituation is the process whereby the brain adapts to the tinnitus tone and stops reacting in a negative emotional way – essentially, the anxiety and stress caused by the sound go away, and all that remains is the sound itself.

Consider the case of Roger Taylor, the guitarist from Queen. Read his anecdote, and you’ll see that in modifying his mental attitude towards tinnitus, he was able to remove its deleterious psychological effects (although, to be fair, even if psychological distress is removed, there’s probably still some residual cognitive blow in terms of reduced memory and attention that cannot be overcome by attitude or habituation alone):

“I have suffered from it [tinnitus], and a lot of people in my generation and in my job suffer from Tinnitus, and with about 80 per cent of people it’s possible to get rid of it. It’s all to do with a positive mental approach which has this amazing psychosomatic effect.

“I’ve managed to beat it and now it only comes on with tiredness or stress. I took a Harley Street doctor’s advice. He gave me a two hour lecture on how to approach it mentally, its brilliant, and I try and tell people and they don’t believe me but it’s absolutely true. It really doesn’t bother you, if you look upon it as a friend, and then it goes away itself it’s almost as simple as that.”