Depression, Hearing Loss, and Treatment with Hearing Aids

The complex connection between hearing loss and depression

A review of recent scientific literature suggests a complex but compelling association between hearing loss and depression.

Adapted from a recent webinar by Dr. Victor Bray, Ph.D., and sponsored by Hamilton® CapTel®, this white paper, Depression, Hearing Loss, and Treatment with Hearing Aids, challenges hearing healthcare professionals to begin re-envisioning hearing loss – it can no longer be viewed as a single chronic condition. Instead, it should be viewed as a potentially important comorbidity that in turn has very real and substantial effects on overall quality of life and healthy aging – and in particular, depression.

Hearing Healthcare + Mental Healthcare Partnership

New findings, some of which are included here, examine specific patient populations whose lives are positively transformed with assistive devices that include captioned telephones, appropriately fit amplification or cochlear implants, as well as auditory training and hearing care services. Further, the findings often reveal a strong case for the partnership of hearing and mental health professionals in the battle against chronic depression.

This white paper – written by Dr. Bray – Associate Professor and former Dean of Salus University Osborne College of Audiology in Elkins Park, Pa. – provides a compelling look at the complex connections between untreated hearing loss and depression.