Is Your Mood Connected to Hearing Loss

Is Your Mood Connected to Hearing Loss?

In Hearing Loss by Dr. Jason Leyendecker

Dr. Jason Leyendecker
Latest posts by Dr. Jason Leyendecker (see all)

If you have hearing loss, then you may be aware of how exhausting it can be. It takes a lot of effort to listen to people when you struggle to hear, and it can really affect your mood. 

How is dopamine connected to our hearing?

When you hear your favorite song, or listen to the relaxing sound of the rain, it not only can bring joy but releases dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, sending signals to the brain which increases mood and fights depression. Dopamine also helps enhance your hearing. While we hear with our ears we process and comprehend sound in the auditory cortex in our brains. When experiencing higher levels of dopamine it can be easier to stay focused and motivated. A general sense of well-being can increase our motivation to communicate and enjoy social interactions.

Studies in Hearing and Dopamine

It is also believed that dopamine helps with the formation of long-term memories. These findings suggest that dopamine can help with our hearing as well.

In a 2006 study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, French researchers determined that dopamine is essential in the process of maintaining healthy auditory nerve neurons. Nerve neurons are responsible for receiving sensory input from the external world. This includes the transportation of sound to the brain. The study found that decreased levels of dopamine have the potential to impact neurons, impeding transmission of sound from the ear to the brain and contributing to  ​sensorineural hearing loss.

Untreated hearing loss and your mood

Hearing loss is ultimately a communication issue. It makes it difficult to hear and be heard. Conversations and social interaction which may have once brought you joy are terse and difficult to navigate. You are forced to focus more and still it is easy to miss parts of conversation, making it feel easier to skip out on social situations. This leads to under stimulation and even chronic depression. Research has shown that the psychological effects of untreated hearing loss for both children and adults can increase outbursts of anger, low self-confidence, and frustration. Adults often grieve for their hearing loss as their ability to hear diminishes. This is due to the fact that hearing loss is often permanent. This can leave people with a sense of loneliness and hopelessness that is hard to shake.

Treating your hearing loss

While there is no cure for hearing loss there are several treatments which can improve the situation. The most common treatment is hearing aids. These tiny digital devices sit in or around the ear and amplify the specific tones or pitches which your brain struggles to perceive. While these devices cannot restore your hearing, they can enhance it to the point where you can start to reconnect to friends, co-workers, and the people closest to you. Overtime you can start to rebuild self-confidence and climb out of depression. Dopamine can begin to return, as you return to activities you used to love and reconnect with the joy of hearing.

Protect your hearing and boost your dopamine

Hearing loss can be caused by many things including loud noise, certain medications, infections, and old age. However, there are certain things you can do to increase dopamine while reducing your risk of hearing damage at the same time.

Stay active. It is important to exercise daily. Thirty minutes of cardiovascular exercise daily not only boosts your mood but helps you maintain cardiovascular health as well as a healthy blood pressure. The inner ears rely on a healthy supply of blood to maintain their full strength. Any interruption of that supply can cause permanent damage to the inner ear.

Eat healthy. There are certain foods which provide an instant dopamine rush but that doesn’t mean they are good for your cardiovascular system. Foods high in sugar fat and caffeine cause an imbalance in your body’s dopamine production over time.

To make dopamine, your body requires proteins rich in tyrosine such as chicken, turkey, fish, peanuts, almonds, avocados, bananas, dairy, lima beans, pumpkin seeds, and sesame seeds. Foods full of magnesium, iron and potassium also support healthy blood flow and endurance to the inner ears.

Schedule a hearing test

You may be suffering from the symptoms, such as chronic depression and the avoidance of social situations and not even be aware that it is caused by a hearing impairment. This is because hearing loss can sneak up as it slowly develops over years. Schedule a hearing test annually to make sure that hearing loss doesn’t sneak up on you!