<p>You first notice the sound when you’re in bed trying to sleep: Your ear has a whooshing or throbbing in it. The sound is pulsing in rhythm with your heartbeat. And no matter how hard you try, you can’t tune it out. You have a big day tomorrow and you really need your sleep so this is no good. And all of a sudden you feel really anxious, very not sleepy.</p>
<p>Does this situation sound familiar? Turns out, tinnitus, anxiety, and sleep are closely associated. And you can see how tinnitus and anxiety might easily conspire to produce a vicious cycle, one that deprives you of your sleep, your rest, and can impact your health.</p>
<h2>Can tinnitus be triggered by anxiety?</h2>
<p>Tinnitus is typically referred to as a ringing in the ears. But it’s not as simple as that. Firstly, many different sounds can manifest from a ringing, buzzing, or humming to a pulsating or whooshing. Basically, you’re hearing a sound that doesn’t really exist. When people get stressed out, for many people, tinnitus can manifest.</p>
<p>For people who cope with feelings of fear or worry and anxiety, these feelings often hinder their life because they have trouble controlling them. Tinnitus is just one of several ways this can physically materialize. So can anxiety cause tinnitus? Definitely!</p>
<h3>Why is this tinnitus-anxiety combo bad?</h3>
<p>There are a couple of reasons why this particular combination of tinnitus and anxiety can lead to bad news:</p>
<ul>
<li>Tinnitus can frequently be the first sign of a more severe anxiety attack (or similar episode). Once you’ve made this association, any episode of tinnitus (whether related to anxiety or not) could cause a spike in your overall anxiety levels.</li>
<li>Normally, nighttime is when most people really notice their tinnitus symptoms. Can ringing in the ears be caused by anxiety? Certainly, but it’s also possible that the ringing’s been there all day and your normal activities were simply loud enough to hide the sound. This can make getting to sleep a little tricky. And that sleeplessness can itself lead to more anxiety.</li>
</ul>
<p>Often, tinnitus can begin in one ear and then move to the other. There are some instances where tinnitus is continuous day and night. There are other circumstances where it comes and goes. Whether constant or intermittent, this combo of anxiety and tinnitus can have health consequences. </p>
<h2>How is your sleep impacted by tinnitus and anxiety?</h2>
<p>So, yeah, anxiety-related tinnitus could definitely be causing your sleep issues. Here are a few examples of how:</p>
<ul>
<li>The sound of your tinnitus can stress you out and difficult to dismiss. If you’re laying there just attempting to fall asleep, your tinnitus can become the metaphorical dripping faucet, keeping you up all night. As your anxiety about not sleeping increases, the sound of the tinnitus symptoms can get louder and even more difficult to ignore.</li>
<li>Most individuals like it to be quiet when they sleep. You turn everything off because it’s bedtime. But when everything else is silent, your tinnitus can be much more noticeable.</li>
<li>the level of your stress will keep rising the longer you go without sleeping. As your stress level increases your tinnitus gets worse.</li>
</ul>
<p>When your tinnitus is caused by anxiety, you might fear an anxiety attack is coming as soon as you hear that whooshing noise. It’s not surprising that you’re having trouble sleeping. But lack of sleep causes all kinds of problems.</p>
<h4>How lack of sleep impacts your health</h4>
<p>As this vicious cycle keeps going, the health impacts of insomnia will grow much more significant. And this can really have a negative affect on your wellness. Some of the most prevalent effects include the following:<p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Elevated stress and worry</strong>: The anxiety symptoms already present will worsen if you don’t sleep. A vicious cycle of mental health related symptoms can result.</li>
<li><strong>Slower reaction times</strong>: Your reaction times will be reduced when you’re exhausted. Driving and other daily activities will then be more hazardous. And if, for example, you run heavy machinery, it can be particularly dangerous.</li>
<li><strong>Poor work performance</strong>: Naturally, your job performance will suffer if you can’t get a good night’s sleep. You won’t be as eager or be able to think clearly and quickly.</li>
<li><strong>Higher risk of cardiovascular disease</strong>: Your long term health and well-being will be affected over time by lack of sleep. Increased danger of a stroke or heart disease can be the result.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Other causes of anxiety</h4>
<p>Of course, there are other causes of anxiety besides tinnitus. It’s essential to recognize what these causes are so you can stay away from stress triggers and maybe decrease your tinnitus at the same time. Here are some of the most common causes of anxiety:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Hyperstimulation</strong>: For some people, getting too much of any one thing, even a good thing, can bring on an anxiety episode. Being in a crowded environment, for example, can cause some people to have an anxiety attack.</li>
<li><strong>Medical conditions</strong>: You may, in some situations, have an elevated anxiety response due to a medical condition.</li>
<li><strong>Stress response</strong>: When something causes us extreme stress, our bodies will normally go into an anxious mode. If you’re being chased by a wild animal, that’s great. But when you’re working on a project at work, that’s not so great. Sometimes, the relationship between the two isn’t apparent. Something that triggered a stress response last week could cause an anxiety attack tomorrow. You may even have an anxiety attack in response to a stressor from a year ago, for instance.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Other causes</strong>: Some of the following, less common factors may also cause anxiety:</p>
<ul>
<li>Stimulant usage (including caffeine)</li>
<li>Certain recreational drugs</li>
<li>Lack of nutrition</li>
<li>Exhaustion and sleep deprivation (see the vicious cycle once again)</li>
</ul>
<p>This list is not exhaustive. And if you suspect you have an anxiety disorder, you should talk to your provider about treatment options.</p>
<h2>Treating anxiety-induced tinnitus</h2>
<p>With regards to anxiety-related tinnitus, there are two general choices at hand. You can either try to treat the anxiety or treat the tinnitus. Here’s how that may work in either case:</p>
<h4>Addressing anxiety</h4>
<p>There are a couple of possibilities for treating anxiety:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Cognitive-behavioral Therapy (CBT)</strong>: Certain thought patterns can inadvertently exacerbate your anxiety symptoms and this method will help you identify those thought patterns. Patients are able to better prevent anxiety attacks by disrupting those thought patterns.</li>
<li><strong>Medication</strong>: Medications may be utilized, in other situations, to make anxiety symptoms less prevalent.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Treating tinnitus</h4>
<p>Tinnitus can be treated in a variety of different ways, especially if it presents while you’re sleeping. Some of the most common treatments include:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)</strong>: If somebody with tinnitus can recognize and accept their tinnitus symptoms they can reduce the disruptive impact it has. CBT is an approach that helps them do that by helping them create new thought patterns.</li>
<li><strong>White noise machine</strong>: Use a white noise machine when you’re trying to sleep. Your tinnitus symptoms may be able to be masked by this strategy.</li>
<li><strong>Masking device</strong>: This is basically a white noise machine that you wear near your ear. This might help your tinnitus to be less obvious.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Addressing your tinnitus could help you sleep better</h2>
<p>As long as that humming or whooshing is keeping you awake at night, you’ll be at risk of falling into one of these vicious cycles, fueled by anxiety and tinnitus. One solution is to focus on fixing your tinnitus first. Give us a call so we can help.</p>