Emotional stress is often associated with otological symptoms such as tinnitus and dizziness. Anxiety activates the fight or flight system, which puts a lot of pressure on nerves and increases blood flow, body heat, and more. This pressure and stress are very likely to reach the inner ear and cause the tinnitus experience. The symptom of ringing in the ears (tinnitus) may precede, accompany, or follow an episode of nervousness, anxiety, fear and high stress, or it may occur unexpectedly and for no apparent reason.
Try not to expect this to help relieve tinnitus directly or immediately; most people find relaxation helpful, but it takes time and practice. Instead, evidence suggests that the reason one person is stressed and another is not because they have different ideas or beliefs about tinnitus. Focusing attention on tinnitus in this way can make tinnitus appear much stronger and much more intrusive. Therefore, chronic stress, such as the hyperstimulation of the stress response caused by anxiety, is a common cause of ringing in the ears.
Researchers say that one of the reasons is that tinnitus can act as an alarm signal when you react to stressful situations, especially during the onset of stress. Making changes in one or more of the areas of the cognitive-behavioral model can help reduce unpleasant feelings, such as the adverse effects of stress, whether related to tinnitus or other life problems. However, in the long term, prolonged adverse stress can be very uncomfortable for the body and mind. Therefore, these changes in attention may explain why tinnitus may start or worsen during periods of stress.
One way to understand the relationship between tinnitus and stress is to consider the role of attention. Ringing in the ears (tinnitus) is a common sign and symptom of anxiety disorder, anxiety and panic attacks, and chronic stress (hyperstimulation). In addition, when people “suffer” from tinnitus, the type and magnitude of the difficulties they experience vary from person to person. People who are stressed by tinnitus tend to think about it in ways that reflect desperation, hopelessness, loss of enjoyment, a belief that they will never have peace or quiet, and a belief that others don't understand.
By doing the above, you may be able to learn more useful things to tell yourself about tinnitus, such as reminding yourself that it's not dangerous and that you can continue to enjoy life with tinnitus. Untreated anxiety problems are one of the main reasons why anxiety symptoms persist, including ringing in the ears (tinnitus).
