A patient in our clinic used to describe how he felt very small and lonely in the face of tinnitus. He had vivid images of “being like a hopeless lonely shrimp in the sea which was about to be taken over by deadly waves of a tsunami”.
In his last CBT session, he said: “After the therapy I feel stronger, braver and more positive. It is inspirational. Previously, I had been experiencing this tide, this huge tsunami of negativity, suffering, pain, anguish and everything, right from the time that my tinnitus started. And only now are we mounting the forces of good, riding the horses of the cavalry, charging into it and saying no! You don’t have to do all that kind of stuff. We can use CBT to make a change from within. And it definitely has an effect. My therapy is coming to a close, but I feel that I need to become more confident. You are not going to like this but I think I need more sessions with you! Because I think that we have done so much work and come so far from where I was this time last year to where we are now. There have been ground breaking changes from when I came to this office to when I leave this office today. It is like all the parts of Lego. These are helping but I understand that you can’t get everything that you like in life. It is as though I have been cast off as in a ship. I have got all my tools and toolbox now. And now off you go baby. Good luck! This makes me anxious.”
This is part of Dr Hashir Aazh and Professor Brian C.J. Moore on 10 step self help tool for tinnitus. World-wide, about one billion people experience tinnitus at some point in their life. Tinnitus is a life-changing experience for many of them. Learning effective management strategies in a timely fashion is the key to dealing with tinnitus-related distress. The main aim of their self-help programme book is to teach a person with tinnitus how to reduce the distress caused by their tinnitus.
Hashir Aazh and Brian C.J. Moore bring together their complementary experiences. Hashir is an academic-clinician who pioneered audiologist-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for tinnitus and Brian is a professor who is one of the world’s leading scientists in human hearing and its disorders. In creating this ten-step self-help guide, they combine cutting-edge knowledge of the auditory science and theoretical frameworks in modern psychology with the insight they have acquired from clinical encounters about the complexities of the human experience of tinnitus and how to help people to deal with it. But that’s not all! Aazh and Moore’s unique style of writing teaches us complex concepts in an entertaining manner. The book introduces a cast of characters from Beauty and the Beast to Moby Dick, from Dante to Sigmund Freud, from Buddha to Avicenna, and from Muhammad Ali to the Little Prince. Packed with metaphors and practical tips, the authors draw a realistic picture of what the recovery from tinnitus-related distress looks like, and then dive into the deep and explore the variety of experiences of tinnitus and their complexities. The reader will learn how important it is to go beyond the difficulties and annoyance caused by tinnitus and to pay attention to the meanings behind these experiences and understand the role they play in escalating tinnitus-related distress. Of course, consistent with the main aim of the self-help, learning about the meaning behind experiences of tinnitus paves the way for developing the skills that can help in the journey of recovery. Everything that you need to know about self-management of tinnitus is presented in ten steps!
Get the book version here.
