In conversation with friends, you like to be polite. At work, you want to appear engaged, even enthralled with what your supervisor/co-worker/customers are saying. With family, you may find it less difficult to simply tune out the conversation and ask the person next to you to repeat what you missed, just a bit louder, please.
On conference calls you lean in closer. You look for facial hints, listen for inflection, pay close attention to body language. You read lips. And if all else fails – you fake it.
Maybe your in denial. Your struggling to catch up because you missed most of what was said. Life at home and projects at work have become unjustifiably overwhelming and you are feeling frustrated and cut off due to years of progressive hearing loss.
According to some studies, situational factors including environmental acoustics, background noise, contending signals, and situational awareness have a major influence on the way a person hears. These factors are relevant, but it can be a lot more extreme for people who suffer from hearing loss.
There are certain tell-tale behaviors that will alert you to whether you’re in denial about how your hearing loss is impacting your professional life:
- Not able to hear others talking behind you
- Leaning in When people are talking and unconsciously cupping your ear with your hand
- Asking others what you missed after pretending you heard what someone was saying
- Finding it harder to hear over the phone
- Feeling like people are mumbling and not talking clearly
- Asking people to repeat themselves over and over again
While it may feel like this crept up on you in an all-of-a-sudden way, more than likely your hearing loss didn’t happen overnight. Most people wait 7 years on average before accepting the issue and seeking help.
This means if your hearing loss is an issue now, it has most likely been going un-addressed and untreated for some time. Hearing loss is no joke so stop kidding yourself and make an appointment now.