Is Tinnitus a Disease or a Symptom ?

If you have Tinnitus then you are most probably familiar with some of the most common causes.
There is a whole list of them for you to choose from.
Only when you start to analyze the known facts and their probable consequences will the whole scope of Tinnitus start to unfold.

There can be a million reasons why you have Tinnitus. Lets take a brief look at some of the most common symptoms for tinnitus. How many of these symptoms can you apply to yourself? Add more if you have to.

Lack of concentration,
Headaches,
Fatigue,
Social retreat,
Depressive moods,
Lack of patience,
Nervousness,
Panic attacks,
Anxiety,
Apprehension,
Stress and tension,
Lack of self confidence,
Insomnia,
Exhaustion,
Devaluation,

Other than the hearing loss which is physical, all other symptoms listed here are of a subconscious nature. Lets get 3 important things into perspective here. I will repeat these 3 sentences until they are tattooed into your soul.

1. Tinnitus is not a disease, it is a symptom!
2. You are not sick and you are not mentally ill. You are being warned!
3. You will defeat tinnitus if you accept it as a part of you.

As soon as you are ready to accept that the tinnitus is a part of you, the sooner you can expect to make progress.

The power of the mind is extraordinary. Think about this carefully. If tinnitus succeeded in turning your life upside down then accept the fact that all it used to achieve misery was your own mind. Thats quite an achievement isnt it ?

Thats how powerful your mind is. If it has the capability to make your life a complete misery then surely it can be re-programmed to do the opposite.

Its entirely up to you. The solution lies within yourself and your ability to learn.
What do we know about the causes of tinnitus?.
Where does it have its roots?

Ever heard of social sickness? Me either. Its a phrase that I like though. Here in Germany its called "Volkskrankheit"(has nothing to do with cars).

I once tried to compile a list of all elements which I suspected may have contributed to MY own tinnitus. Obviously, I listed the negative aspects of my life over a 10 year period. Some of these things could have been avoided, most of them were linked to each other. Dont forget, this is only a list of things that I think should be mentioned.

Ive tried not to generalize and Ive tried my best to stay honest, even if it means confessing to some bad sins. To be perfectly honest its not as dramatic as it looks.It just looks outrageous when written down!

Marital Stress,
Heavy smoking,
Drug and medication abuse, (i.e. Valium, Marijuana, Cocaine)
Relationship crisis,
unhealthy eating habits,
Loud noises,
Lack of exercise,
High cholesterol,
High blood sugar rate,
Personal loss,
Caffeine addiction (coffee and cola)
Lack of sleep,
Financial Problems,
Overweight,
Business pressures,
Inclination to worry about everything.

So there we have it.
It looks terrible I know. The worst thing is that I am one of millions who used to live like this. If you cant identify with anything written on this list then you shouldnt have tinnitus. Any one of these elements on their own would be harmful enough for any person.

Combine them and youre left with a time bomb waiting to explode. So now we have two lists. The first one above describes the symptoms and the second one describes possible causes. If you look carefully at the causes it wont take much imagination to conjure up a "symptom list" like the one above. What else do you expect?.

I dare you take a pen and paper and write down your own "bad list". Be absolutely honest and write down all the things that you arent proud of or maybe would rather forget. Write down all the things you would like to change if you had a magic wand. ( My bad list is there for everyone to see. You can hide yours!

By the way, you dont have to have tinnitus to create a list like mine. I would be willing to bet that EVERYONE can come up with a list similar to mine. I say only similar because I know that not everyone is overweight, or smokes or tried drugs.

Think carefully about what you are reading on your list. If you are very honest, you will find that you dont need a magic wand to shorten this list. The only person on this planet that can change this list to something to be proud of is YOU!. I consider myself to be lucky. Tinnitus gave me a chance to re-shuffle my life

Once more. Please dont forget:

1. Tinnitus is not a disease, it is a symptom.
2. You are not sick and you are not mentally ill. You are being warned!
3. You will defeat tinnitus if you accept it as a part of you.

After an "auditory crash " two years ago which left me with a temporary loss of all hearing I had no other choice than to take action. Ive been looking for an English Term for the German word Hoersturz. In fact this term is made of 2 words. "Hoer" (to hear ) and Sturz ( to crash ). Sounds nice right ?

Anyway this "Auditory Crash" of hearing lasted almost 2 days at the most and thanks to my doctor, I was up and about a week later.
After reading many books and collecting all the information I could find, I decided to take action. I didnt know it then, but the decision to cut out everything that was harming me probably saved my life.
Did you already write down your own list ?. If not,lets imagine this is your list.

Where do you start?

There are some things you can change straight away and without hesitation. Other things will require great patience, lots of time and the will to change.

"Lets start at the very beginning, a very good place you start" ( Richard Rodgers 1902-1979 )