Hanyang Med Rev.  2016 May;36(2):92-98. 10.7599/hmr.2016.36.2.92.

The Role of Psychological Factors in Tinnitus

• Jang EY
• Yi JH

• KMID: 2164666
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.7599/hmr.2016.36.2.92

Abstract

Based on the limitation of biomedical model of tinnitus, more attention has been paid to personalities or psychological aspects. Depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, and sleep disturbance were comorbid illnesses of tinnitus and research showed that neurobiological mechanisms such as dysfunction of limbic system or HPA axis were common in tinnitus and affective disorders and that comorbid psychiatric disorders enhanced the negative outcome of tinnitus. Recently, more attention is being paid to the relation of tinnitus with personality and the role of stress. Although the causal relation of personality and tinnitus is unclear, stress in itself showed that it can be a trigger in the development of tinnitus, and stress of tinnitus can cause adverse effects. Since the effect of fear-related cognition such as catastrophic thought about tinnitus was revealed more recently, its therapeutic implication should be explored. This review will describe the product of previous research and discuss future direction about psychological factors related to tinnitus.

Keyword

Tinnitus; Psychology, Psychiatric Disorder; Personality; Stress

MeSH Terms

Anxiety Disorders
Cognition
Depressive Disorder
Limbic System
Mood Disorders
Psychology*
Tinnitus*

Reference

1. Milerová J, Anders M, Dvořák T, Sand PG, Königer S, Langguth B. The influence of psychological factors on tinnitus severity. Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2013; 35:412–416.

2. Davis A, Rafale EA. Epidemiology of tinnitus. In : Tyler RS, editor. Tinnitus handbook. Singular Press;2001. p. 1–23.

3. Sindhusake D, Golding M, Newall P, Rubin G, Jakobsen K, Mitchell P. Prevalence and characteristics of tinnitus in older adults: the Blue Mountains Hearing Study. Ear Hear. 2003; 24:501–507.

4. Heinecke K, Weise C, Schwarz K, Rief W. Physiological and psychological stress reactivity in chronic tinnitus. J Behav Med. 2008; 31:179–188.

5. Zirke N, Seydel C, Szczepek AJ, Olze H, Haupt H, Mazurek B. Psychological comorbidity in patients with chronic tinnitus: analysis and comparison with chronic pain, asthma or atopic dermatitis patients. Qual Life Res. 2013; 22:263–272.

6. Hoffman HJ, Reed GW. Epidemiology of tinnitus. In : Snow JB, editor. Tinnitus: Theory and Management. B.C. Decker Inc;2004. p. 16–41.

7. Savage J, Waddell A. Tinnitus. BMJ Clin Evid. 2012; 3:pii:0506.

8. Zoger S, Svedlund J, Holgers KM. The effects of sertraline on severe tinnitus suffering, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2006; 26:32–39.

9. Sullivan MD, Katon W, Dobie R, Sakai C, Russo J, Harrop-Griffiths J. Disabling tinnitus: association with affective disorder. Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 1988; 10:285–291.

10. Erlandsson SI, Holgers KM. The impact of perceived tinnitus severity on health-related quality of life with aspects of gender. Noise Health. 2001; 3:39–51.

11. Gureje O, Von Korff M, Kola L, Demyttenaere K, He Y, Posada-Villa J, et al. The relation between multiple pains and mental disorders: results from the World Mental Health Surveys. Pain. 2008; 135:82–91.

12. Wright RJ, Rodriguez M, Cohen S. Review of psychosocial stress and asthma: an integrated biopsychosocial approach. Thorax. 1988; 53:1066–1074.

13. Chida Y, Hamer M, Steptoe A. A bidirectional relationship between psychosocial factors and atopic disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychosom Med. 2008; 70:102–116.

14. Zirke N, Seydel C, Szczepek AJ, Olze H, Haupt H, Mazurek B. Psychological comorbidity in patients with chronic tinnitus: analysis and comparison with chronic pain, asthma or atopic dermatitis patients. Qual Life Res. 2013; 22:263–272.

15. Canlon B, Theorell T, Hasson D. Associations between stress and hearing problems in humans. Hear Res. 2013; 295:9–15.

16. Hiller W, Goebel G. A psychometric study of complaints in chronic tinnitus. J Psychosom Res. 1992; 36:337–348.

17. Folmer RL, Griest SE, Martin WH. Chronic tinnitus as phantom auditory pain. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2001; 124:394–400.

18. Stobik C, Weber RK, Münte TF, Walter M, Frommer J. Evidence of psychosomatic influences in compensated and decompensated tinnitus. Int J Audiol. 2005; 44:370–378.

19. Sanchez L, Stephens D. A tinnitus problem questionnaire in a clinic population. Ear Hear. 1997; 18:210–217.

20. Nondahl DM, Cruickshanks KJ, Dalton DS, Klein BE, Klein R, Schubert CR, et al. The impact of tinnitus on quality of life in older adults. J Am Acad Audiol. 2007; 18:257–266.

21. George RN, Kemp S. A survey of New Zealanders with tinnitus. Br J Audiol. 1991; 25:331–336.

22. Eggermont JJ, Roberts LE. The neuroscience of tinnitus. Trends Neurosci. 2004; 27:676–682.

23. van der Loo E, Gais S, Congedo M, Vanneste S, Plazier M, Menovsky T, et al. Tinnitus intensity dependent gamma oscillations of the contralateral auditory cortex. PLoS One. 2009; 4:e7396.

24. Martines F, Bentivegna D, Di Piazza F, Martines E, Sciacca V, Martinciglio G. Investigation of tinnitus patients in Italy: clinical and audiological characteristics. Int J Otolaryngol. 2010; 2010:265861.

25. Kaltenbach JA, Zhang J, Finlayson P. Tinnitus as a plastic phenomenon and its possible neural underpinnings in the dorsal cochlear nucleus. Hear Res. 2005; 206:200–226.

26. De Ridder D, Elgoyhen AB, Romo R, Langguth B. Phantom percepts: tinnitus and pain as persisting aversive memory networks. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011; 108:8075–8080.

27. Vanneste S, Plazier M, der Loo Ev, de Heyning PV, Congedo M, De Ridder D. The neural correlates of tinnitus-related distress. Neuroimage. 2010; 52:470–480.

28. Hébert S, Lupien SJ. Salivary cortisol levels, subjective stress, and tinnitus intensity in tinnitus sufferers during noise exposure in the laboratory. Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2009; 212:37–44.

29. Salviati M, Macrì F, Terlizzi S, Melcore C, Provenzano A, Capparelli E, et al. The Tinnitus Handicap Inventory as a screening test for psychiatric comorbidity in patients with tinnitus. Psychosomatics. 2013; 54:248–256.

30. Meric C, Gartner M, Collet L, Chéry-Croze S. Psychopathological profile of tinnitus sufferers: evidence concerning the relationship between tinnitus features and impact on life. Audiol Neurootol. 1998; 3:240–252.

31. Vallianatou NG, Christodoulou P, Nestoros JN, Helidonis E. Audiologic and psychological profile of Greek patients with tinnitus: preliminary findings. Am J Otolaryngol. 2001; 22:33–37.

32. Krog NH, Engdahl B, Tambs K. The association between tinnitus and mental health in a general population sample: results from the HUNT Study. J Psychosom Res. 2010; 69:289–298.

33. D'Amelio R, Archonti C, Scholz S, Falkai P, Plinkert PK, Delb W. Psychological distress associated with acute tinnitus. HNO. 2004; 52:599–603.

34. Langenbach M, Olderog M, Michel O, Albus C, Köhle K. Psychosocial and personality predictors of tinnitus-related distress. Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2005; 27:73–77.

35. Malouff JM, Schutte NS, Zucker LA. Tinnitus-related distress: a review of recent findings. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2011; 13:31–36.

36. Russo J, Katon W, Sullivan M, Clark M, Buchwald D. Severity of somatization and its relationship to psychiatric disorders and personality. Psychosomatics. 1994; 35:546–556.

37. Bartels H, Middel B, Pedersen SS, Staal MJ, Albers FW. The distressed (Type D) personality is independently associated with tinnitus: a case-control study. Psychosomatics. 2010; 51:29–38.

38. Sells D, Sledge WH, Wieland M, Walden D, Flanagan E, Miller R, et al. Cascading crises, resilience and social support within the onset and development of multiple chronic conditions. Chronic Illn. 2009; 5:92–102.

39. Wallhäusser-Franke E, Schredl M, Delb W. Tinnitus and insomnia: is hyperarousal the common denominator? Sleep Med Rev. 2013; 17:65–74.

40. Wallhäusser-Franke E, Delb W, Balkenhol T, Hiller W, Hörmann K. Tinnitus-related distress and the personality characteristic resilience. Neural Plast. 2014; 2014:370307.

41. Hasson D, Theorell T, Wallén MB, Leineweber C, Canlon B. Stress and prevalence of hearing problems in the Swedish working population. BMC Public Health. 2011; 11:130.

42. Schmitt C, Patak M, Kröner-Herwig B. Stress and the onset of sudden hearing loss and tinnitus. Int Tinnitus J. 2000; 6:41–49.

43. Kleinstäuber M, Jasper K, Schweda I, Hiller W, Andersson G, Weise C. The role of fear-avoidance cognitions and behaviors in patients with chronic tinnitus. Cogn Behav Ther. 2013; 42:84–99.

44. Cloninger CR, Svrakic DM, Przybeck TR. A psychobiological model of temperament and character. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1993; 50:975–990.

45. Vlaeyen JW, Linton SJ. Fear-avoidance and its consequences in chronic musculoskeletal pain: a state of the art. Pain. 2000; 85:317–332.

46. Chung JH, Kim MK, Jang YI, Kim KR, Park CW, Lee SH. Temperament and Character Traits in Patients with Tinnitus. In : 2015 International Congress of Korean Society Otorhinolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery;

47. Budd RJ, Pugh R. Tinnitus coping style and its relationship to tinnitus severity and emotional distress. J Psychosom Res. 1996; 41:327–335.

48. Welch D, Dawes PJ. Personality and perception of tinnitus. Ear Hear. 2008; 29:684–692.

49. Riedl D, Rumpold G, Schmidt A, Zorowka PG, Bliem HR, Moschen R. The influence of tinnitus acceptance on the quality of life and psychological distress in patients with chronic tinnitus. Noise Health. 2015; 17:374–381.

50. McKenna L, Handscomb L, Hoare DJ, Hall DA. A scientific cognitive-behavioral model of tinnitus: novel conceptualizations of tinnitus distress. Front Neurol. 2014; 5:196.