Hearing loss can affect many aspects of your day-to-day life. Untreated hearing loss, for example, can affect your professional life, your favorite pastimes, and even your relationships. For couples who are struggling with hearing loss, communication can become strained. This can cause increased tension, more quarrels, and even the growth of animosity. In other words, left unchecked, hearing loss can negatively impact your relationship in significant ways.
So how are relationships affected by hearing loss? These challenges occur, in part, because people are usually oblivious that they even have hearing loss. After all, hearing loss is usually a slow-moving and hard to detect condition. Consequently, you (and your partner) might not notice that hearing loss is the root cause of your communication problems. This can lead to both partners feeling alienated and can make it hard to find practical solutions.
Often, a diagnosis of hearing loss coupled with practical strategies from a hearing specialist can help couples start communicating again, and better their relationships.
Can relationships be affected by hearing loss?
When hearing loss is in the early phases, it can be hard to identify. Couples can have significant misunderstandings as a result of this. As a result, there are some common issues that develop:
- Arguments: It isn’t uncommon for arguments to happen in a relationship, at least, sometimes. But when hearing loss is present, those arguments can become even more frustrating. Arguments can become more frequent too. For others, an increase in arguments could be a result of changes in behavior (for example, increasing the volume on the television to painful levels).
- Feeling ignored: You would probably feel like you’re being disregarded if you addressed someone and they didn’t respond. When one of the partners has hearing loss but is oblivious of it, this can frequently happen. Feeling as if your partner isn’t paying attention to you isn’t good for long-term relationship health.
- Couples frequently mistake hearing loss for “selective hearing”: Selective hearing is what happens when someone hears “we’re having brownies for dessert” very clearly, but somehow doesn’t hear “we need to take out the trash before we eat”. Sometimes, selective hearing is totally unintentional, and in others, it can be a conscious choice. Spouses will frequently start to miss particular words or phrases or these words and phrases will sound garbled when one of them has hearing loss. This can sometimes lead to tension and resentment because one spouse mistakes this for “selective hearing”.
- Intimacy may suffer: Communication in a relationship is often the foundation of intimacy. And when that communication becomes harder, all parties may feel more separated from each other. As a result, hearing loss may introduce friction throughout the relationship, ultimately causing more frustration and tension.
These problems will often start before anybody is diagnosed with hearing loss. Feelings of bitterness may be worse when parties don’t suspect hearing loss is the root issue (or when the partner with hearing loss insists on ignoring their symptoms).
Living with a person who is dealing with loss of hearing
If hearing loss can create so much conflict in a relationship, how do you live with someone who is dealing with hearing loss? For couples who are willing to establish new communication techniques, this typically isn’t a problem. Here are a few of those strategies:
- As much as possible, try to look right into the face of the individual you’re talking with: For someone who has hearing loss, face-to-face communication can give an abundance of visual cues. Your partner will be able to make use of facial cues and body language. It’s also easier to maintain concentration and eye contact. This provides your partner with more information to process, and that typically makes it easier to understand your intent.
- Make use of different words when you repeat yourself: Usually, you will try to repeat what you said when your partner doesn’t hear you. But rather than using the same words over and over again, try changing things up. Some words might be harder to hear than others depending on which frequencies your hearing loss effects most. Changing your word choice can help reinforce your message.
- Patience: This is especially relevant when you know that your partner is dealing with hearing loss. You may have to repeat yourself more often or vary the volume of your voice. You may also have to talk more slowly. The effectiveness of your communication can be significantly improved by practicing this type of patience.
- Help your partner get used to their hearing aids: This can include things like taking over chores that cause substantial anxiety (such as going to the grocery store or making phone calls). You can also ask your partner’s hearing specialist if there are ways you can help them get used to their hearing aids.
- Encourage your partner to come in for a hearing exam: We can help your partner regulate their hearing loss. Many areas of stress will fade away and communication will be more successful when hearing loss is well controlled. Safety is also a concern with hearing loss because it can cause you to fail to hear the doorbell, phone, and smoke alarm. You could also fail to hear oncoming traffic. Your partner can get assistance managing any of these potential problems by scheduling an appointment with us.
What happens after you get diagnosed?
Hearing assessments are typically non-invasive and quite simple. Typically, you will simply put on a set of headphones and listen for particular tones. You will be better able to manage your symptoms and your relationships after you get a diagnosis.
Encouraging your partner to get in touch with us can help guarantee that hearing loss doesn’t undermine your happiness or your partnership.
