In conversation with friends, you like to be polite. At work, you want to look involved, even enthralled with what your manager/colleagues/clients are talking about. With family, you might find it easier to just tune out the conversation and ask the person next to you to repeat what you missed, just a little louder, please.
You have to lean in a little closer when you’re on conference calls. You look for facial cues, listen for inflection, and tune in to body language. You read lips. And if none of that works, you nod as if you heard every word.
Maybe you’re in denial. You’re struggling to catch up because you missed most of the conversation. Life at home and tasks at work have become unjustifiably difficult and you are feeling frustrated and isolated due to years of progressive hearing loss.
According to some studies, situational factors like room acoustics, background noise, contending signals, and situational awareness have a strong influence on the way a person hears. But for individuals who have hearing loss, these factors are made even more difficult.
Some hearing loss behaviors to look out for
There are some tell-tale behaviors that will alert you to whether you’re in denial about how your hearing loss is impacting your social and professional life:
- Finding it harder to hear phone conversations
- Repeatedly needing to ask people to repeat themselves
- Pretending to comprehend, only to later ask others about what was said
- Feeling like people are mumbling and not speaking clearly
- Having a difficult time hearing what others behind you are saying
- Cupping your hands over your ear or leaning in close to the person talking without realizing it
While it might feel like this crept up on you suddenly, chances are your hearing impairment didn’t occur overnight. Acknowledging and seeking out help for hearing loss is something that takes most people 7 years or more.
That means that if your hearing loss is problematic now, it has probably been going unaddressed and neglected for some time. Begin by scheduling an appointment now, and stop kidding yourself, hearing loss is no joke.