Here’s How to Combat The Health Risks of Isolation

You're missing phone calls now. You don't hear the phone ringing sometimes. Other times, you simply don't want to deal with the annoyance of having a conversation with a garbled voice you can barely understand.

But it's not simply your phone you're avoiding. Last week you skipped basketball with friends. More and more frequently, this sort of thing has been occurring. Your beginning to feel somewhat isolated.

The real cause, of course, is your hearing loss. You haven't quite determined how to integrate your diminishing ability to hear into your daily life, and it's triggering something that's all too widespread: social isolation. Getting away from loneliness and back to being social can be difficult. But if you want to make it happen, here are some things you can do.

Acknowledging Your Hearing Loss is Step Number One

Often you aren't quite certain what the cause of your social isolation is when it first starts to happen. So, noticing your hearing loss is a big first step. That could mean making an appointment with a hearing professional, getting fitted for hearing aids, and making sure you keep those hearing aids in working order.

Acknowledgment might also take the form of alerting people in your life about your hearing loss. In many ways, hearing loss is a kind of invisible ailment. There's no particular way to "look" like you have hearing loss.

So it's not something anybody will likely notice just by looking at you. Your friends may begin to think your isolation is a step towards being antisocial. Making people aware of your hearing loss can help people around you understand what you're dealing with and place your responses in a different context.

Your Hearing Loss Shouldn't be Kept Secret

An important first step is being honest with yourself and others about your hearing loss. Getting scheduled hearing aid checks to make sure your hearing hasn't changed is also important. And it might help curb some of the first isolationist inclinations you may feel. But you can deal with isolation with a few more steps.

Make it so Others Can See Your Hearing Aids

There are lots of individuals who place a premium on the invisibility of hearing aids: the smaller the better, right? But if people could see your hearing aid they would have a better understanding of the difficulty you are going through. Some individuals even personalize their hearing aids with custom designs. You will motivate people to be more courteous when talking with you by making it more apparent that you are hard of hearing.

Get The Appropriate Treatment

If you aren't properly treating your hearing ailment it will be much harder to cope with your tinnitus or hearing loss. What "treatment" looks like could fluctuate wildly depending on the situation. But wearing or properly calibrating hearing aids is usually a common factor. And even something that basic can make a significant difference in your everyday life.

Be Clear About What You Need

Getting yelled at is never enjoyable. But people with hearing impairment frequently deal with individuals who feel that this is the best way to communicate with them. So telling people how to best communicate with you is vital. Maybe rather than calling you via the phone, your friends can text you to arrange the next get together. You won't be as likely to isolate yourself if you can get everyone on the same page.

Put Yourself in Social Situations

In this time of internet-driven food delivery, it's easy enough to avoid all people for all time. That's the reason why intentionally putting people in your path can help you avoid isolation. Go to your local supermarket instead of ordering groceries from Amazon. Set up game night with friends. Social activities should be scheduled on your calendar. Even something as basic as going for a walk around your neighborhood can be a good way to see other people. In addition to helping you feel less isolated, this will also help you to discern words precisely and to keep processing sound cues.

It Can be Harmful to Become Isolated

Your doing more than curtailing your social life by separating yourself because of untreated hearing loss. Anxiety, depression, cognitive decline, and other mental issues have been linked to this type of isolation.

So the best way to keep your social life going and keep yourself happy and healthy at the same time is to be realistic about your hearing ailment, be honest about your situation, and do what you can to ensure you're showing up for those weekly card games.