Visualisation- and getting a reality check

[Agnetha1985]

I developed T in April 2022. In December 2022 it had worsened, so In January 2023 I sought help from the GP and got a referral to NHS ENT- heard nothing until May 2023 When I contacted the hospital to find I had been deemed 'routine' and would be waiting months to be seen. However, by then I had decided to go privately for a hearing assessment and found I had moderate hearing loss in both ears . I paid for hearing aids which came with an app and white noise etc.

At this stage I was still coming to terms with this new information and asked my employer for CBT- it turned out that as a zero hours contracted member of staff I was not eligible, so I paid for a combination of hypnotherapy and CBT ( 6 sessions) . The main help here was developing a skill I already had but had not employed - that of visualisation. I am a very visual person and in work mode I support neurodivergent students at University with study skills. Many of these students are also very strong visualisers, so, while I help them to develop their existing strengths, I wasn't using mine!

I now visualise several 'stories' for myself and these help with getting off to sleep and with calming me down when the T is particularly irritating and intrusive. They 'stories' usually involve taking myself on a walking journey to a beach or to a woodland, noticing my environment as I go. Since the noise in my head can feel like an aeroplane engine the hypnotherapist encouraged me to visualise the aeroplane and as I had also pictured the T as a wild animal, I put it into the aeroplane and they took off and away ( the weirder the visualisation the better). This helped me gain control.

Off my own bat I then decided to draw the T each day through the day over a period of 4 weeks. I used a simple face with shapes in red orange or green to depict the placement and severity of the T. Doing this helped me to get a reality check , that sometimes the T was not there at all. I also wanted to see if there was a pattern- er no! However, I gained more control over it. I stopped drawing after 4 months as the task was starting to take over, but it had served its purpose. Now I can visualise the face , The T's colour(s) and shapes/position in my head. It is still a nuisance and I haven't 'habituated' but at the moment I feel I have strategies based on my strengths as a visualiser.

[rabbits65]

Thank you for posting this , an interesting post. I’m sure this will help others.

[Happyrosie]

this is so interesting, Agnetha.

[Ana20]

Thank you for this useful presentation!

Now I can explain while drawing I forget completely about my……darling T.

I wish you good health and all the best!

[oldanddeaf]

Such an interesting and positive post, Angela, thank you. I, too, have a 747 engine that roars up in my deaf ear. Some evenings it's there continuously if it's been a noisy/stressful day. Hadn't thought about visualising it as an actual jumbo jet, but will give it a try, as it makes good sense!

[Fridays_Child_62]

I don't know whether you are really called Agnetha or you are a fellow ABBA fan Anyway, I concur that visualisation at bedtime can help push back the T and get you off to sleep. I also find that trivial mental tasks like counting backwards from 100 can help. This seems to be different from thinking about the issues of the day, which doesn't tend to help. I can also appreciate that attaching a visual image to your T can help you cope with it but mine is quite electronic-sounding, like an out-of-tune radio, so it is difficult to associate pleasant images with it. I'm not sure that assessing and rating your T on a daily basis is helpful though, whether that be through numbers or images/drawings. I think to habituate you have to get out of the habit of analysing your T, although it is easier said than done.

[AdrianaB]

This is great! Thank you for sharing x