Researchers at Hashir International Institute investigated the incidence of the perception of tinnitus in dreams and assessed whether the perception of tinnitus in dreams was associated with the severity of tinnitus, hyperacusis, insomnia, anxiety, and depression.
In addition to difficulties in initiating sleep or going back to sleep if woken up in the middle of the night, some people complain that tinnitus wakes them up and disturbs their sleep. If tinnitus wakes people up, then it should be perceived during sleep. It is not unusual to have some sensory experiences reflected in dreams, and auditory experiences in dreams are common. Auditory sensations occur in over 50% of all dream reports, while olfactory and gustatory sensations occur in approximately 1% of all dream reports. However, during sleep, awareness of external auditory stimuli is typically reduced. In a recent study conducted in our clinic we found that 5% of tinnitus patients reported hearing tinnitus in their dreams. The impact of tinnitus on the patients’ lives was greater for patients who reported hearing tinnitus in their dreams than for those who did not. People who reported hearing tinnitus in their dreams were affected almost twice as much by their tinnitus as people who did not. This may have happened because the content of dreams tends to reflect events and things that are on a person’s mind, so people whose tinnitus has a large impact are more preoccupied by it and are more likely to dream about it. For such people, it is possible that tinnitus wakes them up. However, they constitute only a small minority of people seeking help for tinnitus.
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About Hashir International Institute:
Hashir International is an independent research institute and treatment centre dedicated to improving the diagnostic process and rehabilitation programs for patients experiencing misophonia, tinnitus and hyperacusis. They offer specialist training courses, ethical review of research proposals, research design, research sponsorship, and supervising MSc and PhD students.
