Hearing loss doesn’t just affect your ears- it’s well known to have a ripple effect through many aspects of your life. Compromised hearing can affect your balance and coordination, heart health, and even your mood. Although it’s easy to blame a bad mood on the wrong side of the bed or the luck of the draw, researchers are learning that hearing loss can shape how responsive we are to pleasurable stimuli as well as cutting us off from our natural mood enhancers. 

Hearing Loss and Mental Health

Untreated hearing loss can often provoke destructive social patterns and make people especially susceptible to anxiety, depression, and isolation. Hearing loss overloads our ability to comprehend and participate in communication with others. Those with undiagnosed hearing loss may find themselves increasingly avoiding social situations because following a conversation or enjoying a concert has become draining rather than enjoyable. Without our ability to comprehend sound, even the events we enjoy most -like parties, dinners, and sports games- can seem unmanageable.   What may begin as an occasional avoidance may become frequent avoidance and negative conditioning associated with social interaction. Feeling inept at communication quickly exacerbates social isolation. The difficulty in navigating sound people with untreated hearing loss face can leave them feeling frustrated and alone. This cut-off from easy modes of communication can provoke depression and anxiety. Social connection, which is essential to our mental health, becomes difficult and strained, and patterns can reinforce adverse mental health conditions.  Although hearing damage is irreparable, the good news is that most permanent hearing loss is treatable. Hearing aids can help people with hearing impairment regain their social footing and re-engage with their social networks and support systems. Reconnecting to communication and comprehension can alleviate some of the underlying causes of social anxiety and depression and help people with hearing loss stay connected to the people and things they feel closest to. 

Looking at the Role of Dopamine

A study coming out of Washington State University Vancouver looks deeply into the relationship between the neurotransmitter dopamine and hearing. Their findings indicate hearing loss can have a limiting influence on dopamine’s effects and make us moody and vulnerable to other health issues.  What exactly is dopamine, though, and why be concerned with it? Dopamine occurs naturally in the body and works as a hormone linked to incentive building in the brain. Dopamine helps the mind experience pleasure and has a significant role in regulating moods, emotions, metabolism, sleep, and thought processes. Dopamine deficiency is connected to schizophrenia and Parkinson’s disease, where cognitive processes and motor skills fall out of balance. At the right levels, dopamine works as a neurotransmitter to keep some of our body’s most nuanced functions running smoothly. 

Dopamine and How We Hear

Just as dopamine finesses how the body regulates itself, it is also very involved in how we process the world around us, including the sounds we hear. French data from 2006 demonstrated how dopamine, and the protein that distributes it in the body, are required for the auditory nerve's proper functioning.  The corrosion of the inner ear and auditory nerve's delicate workings is responsible for most permanent hearing loss. As research indicates, when dopamine is removed, the auditory nerve neurons deteriorate, as does their ability to respond to sounds. Dopamine’s function of building motivation and reward in the mind’s structure may be linked to how we distinguish and prioritize sound. Enjoying conversation, music, and other aural entertainment is also connected to the brain's pleasure centers. Limitations on these stimuli can make a lasting impression on our mood. 

Treating Hearing Loss

Do you experience moodiness that may be related to your overall hearing health? Have you noticed trouble or changes with how you hear? If so, it’s time to set up an appointment with us. Our thorough hearing exam will help diagnose any hearing issues you may be experiencing and get you connected with answers. Hearing your best is deeply linked to feeling your best, so start on the path to both today!