Mental Health and Hearing Aids

Each of us have five senses. Why would anyone dismiss one of those as being negligible? Yet, many people do when it comes to hearing. They don't want to wear a hearing aid because they are vain--or they don't want to pay for one because it's expensive. Of course, Medicare doesn't cover the expense. Obviously, the government thinks the loss of hearing isn't tragic. 

But it is. A Johns Hopkins News Release stated, "The findings add to a growing list of health consequences associated with hearing loss, including increased risk of dementia, falls, hospitalizations, and diminished physical and mental health overall."

Read more about it here: Hearing Loss Linked to Accelerated Brain Tissue Loss

I have lived with hearing impaired people all my life. My father can't hear a thing without his hearing aid. His father, my grandfather also needed a hearing aid. My husband wears two hearing aids--but he is far better at figuring out songs by ear than I am. :-) 

As some of our friends are aging, their hearing has diminished. Yet, they refuse to get hearing aids. Hubby was talking to one of his friends the other day. He asked his friend a question, but his friend didn't answer him. That's because he didn't hear the question, but he doesn't believe he has a problem and he doesn't want to get a hearing aid. :-(

And that is sad. He will miss more than one question as the years go by.