@tenkan: FWIW, I agree 100% with your assessment.
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Well reading through this my take is information overload. I love to read, and do daily. I am not much for TV or modern movies because to me it is junk. If I know I have a long meeting or lecture to go to I make sure to get plenty of quiet time before and after. Also, I live out in a National Forest so I have peace and quiet, nothing better than setting on in the grass or a big rock out in the forest and listen to nature. Going into town or a city overloads my nerves because of the obnoxious noise of a city. While I worked, before retirement, I would take my aids out before driving to out from work and also for breaks. I believe for the ones of us with hearing loss that noise overload is something we have to deal with. It definitely gives me headaches
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In my opinion, what youâve described kinda sounds like a variant of attention deficit disorder. I admit that I find myself listening to music a lot more than I used to since I got the Phonak M90s, and Iâm watching more YouTube videos than I ever did before. For that reason I make it a point to take âtechno-breaksâ. However, if youâre truly having concerns for your mental health Iâd recommend seeking professional help in addition to your bluetooth experiment.
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@postagedew: I didnât want to suggest this possibility earlier, because I didnât feel like getting âreamed outâ, however I agree.
@hass5744 suggested earlier that a bit of self-discipline might be in order. I agree with that, also, but if one has a condition like ADD that precludes ordinary self-discipline, then I believe your suggestion of professional help is in order - no stigma, no judgment.
This is only my opinion. YMMV.
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Well we seem to come 360 degrees. Weâre back to discussing mental health which the op brought up in his original thread. And I still maintain that this isnât the place for that, and the op should be seeking help elsewhere
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It seems to me that your experiment is worthwhile. As a psychotherapist working remotely in a telemental health practice, I wondered if too much time on Zoom could cause confusion and other symptoms mimicking dementia. I found that there is a great deal of research demonstrating problems related to too much time on screens. I would not be at all surprised if constant context switching and distraction due to use of too many Bluetooth devices may cause similar problems.
Is this your scientific opinion, or just the kind of banter heard in the telepsychotherapistsâ locker room after shift?
Havenât read all of the posts but since getting Phonak Bluetooth Aids, Iâm literally listening to Pod Casts all day. Never felt like my mental health is off at all. In fact I think itâs better as Iâm enjoying listening to Pod Casts.
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No scientific opinion or banter with other psychotherapists. Just interest in what all of our technology may do to the way our minds work and how we learn, and appreciation of the studentâs self experimentation.
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When they invented the car there was doom and gloom predictions. Then they invented the plane. Advances in technology are part of the human civilization. Oh look Iâm typing on my telephone. Life goes on. Move along with it or donât. But stop blaming it for everything
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@ibawaya: Sorry, but I donât buy it. This is a freaking hearing aid forum, to help us understand what people are saying to us, because our hearing is damaged. It doesnât exist to plumb the depths of technology and human learning. There must be other forums for that type of discussion (if thatâs what youâre looking for).
It sounded, at first, as though the OP was sending out a cry for help related to his mental health. Some of us said âYouâre in the wrong place.â Everything went to hell from there, just because folks were trying to help the OP with a mental health problem ⌠not a psychological experiment.
End of rant.
the Op brought the subject to the forum to be discussed. And the topic concerns his hearing aids. Thereâs a long thread here about why people perceive costco as being second rate. Thatâs a sociological issue. There are threads about hearing exhaustionâthatâs a psychological issue. The OP has brought up an analogous condition brought about by his hearing aids. Whereâs your rant about those other topics?
In any case, suggesting that someone who wants to take time out from social media and such is abnormal, as has been done here (the crazy loner brothers etc.) is itself a bit eccentric. I think the OP has struck a nerve. people are frightened by the notion of unplugging. and so they attack someone who suggests doing that.
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None of these âexamplesâ involves an OP claiming to be concerned over the state of their mental health as it pertains to the subject. So - no rant.
FYI, the only things I have ever streamed in my life are a half dozen Dr Cliff âelectronic flushingsâ, and about the same number of articles by Brian Goulet of Goulet Pens.
I am 74 years old, I worked around, on communication, radar, satellite, TV, WiFi and everything else that attempts some kind of radiation, other than nuclear power. I havenât gotten cancer yet. I havenât had issues working around it. My hearing loss was mainly due to fling in the cargo bays of military jets. I am not say some people arenât more easily affected by the emitting of the signals but if you follow the safety codes you are most likely safe. My 8 years in the Navy was get it working, and what ever it takes. I am still alive and cancer free. I am also someone that has never been in a hospital bed for any longer than needed for test procedures, and never admitted to the hospital, and canât even remember an ER visit. My point again it is safe as long as the safety procedures are followed
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I was gonna say something similar, but also to add is the issues have nothing to do with HAs, as in they arenât caused by the HAs! The OP will have this problem regardless, as itâs some kind of underlying issue with or without HAs.
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@tenkan: Thanks for your corroboration: I see you as being one of the most active and open-minded helpers on the Forum. I donât think you would be critical of the OP without just cause.
the OP merely said that he was feeling âmentally offâ. I donât take that as indicating a full blown psychiatric crisis. Athletes use that term all the time. âMy brother has cancer and I was off my game. I felt mentally offâ (i.e. distracted, exactly as what the OP is saying). Studies show that driving while using a cell phone is equivalent to driving while drunk. And weâve all been behind drivers on their cell phones who perform weird and sometimes dangerous maneuvers. Theyâre distracted, not mentally ill. they need to put down their phone, not check into a facility.
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@jeffrey: Isnât that exactly what @hass5744, @tenkan and @WhiteHat advised, but the OP blamed his distraction on the Bluetooth on the HAs?
Heâs saying that bluetooth is enabling excessive media saturation. I quote:
Someone on a diet may decide to not have cookies in the house. Etc. etc, In other words, it seems to be a question of will rather than mental illness.