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Impact of Hearing Loss

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The Impact of Hearing Loss
In today’s society, it is a well-known fact that the onset of hearing loss is occurring at an earlier age in an individual’s lifespan. In addition, the percentage of society who is experiencing hearing loss is rising as well. The culprit behind this major health concern is widely believed to be from external factors such as our overly loud environment. In the following essay, two main points will be addressed. The first will be regarding the long term consequences from a population growing up with premature hearing loss. And the second will be the challenges that will be faced when trying to change the behaviors of listeners.
According to Oyler (n.d.), the impact of hearing loss has a large effect on an individual’s social life. What this means is that a person who is hard of hearing may be more socially withdrawn and reclusive than before they experienced hearing loss. This may occur for many reasons such as avoiding awkward interactions where it may be difficult to communicate effectively. Sometimes it may be due to the individual not being able to come to terms with the fact that they may need a hearing aid. Therefore, the individual shuns all interaction that may remind them of this health concern. If the rate of hearing loss increases in society, the quality of life that one may expect may decrease as a result. For example, lack of social interaction may lead to depression, lack of fulfillment, loneliness and many other related concerns.
The biggest obstacle in trying to change the behaviors of listeners may be our society itself. In the world we live in, the concept of “more is better” applies to most of our lives. Therefore, an individual will keep on seeking a louder headphone or a bigger speaker to get “more” out of their experience. This is evident in the products that are on the market alongside the advertisements that make sure to point out how “loud” their speaker gets. So even if we raise awareness to the issue, the behavior will not change to a significant degree. Look at smoking as an example. It took countless individuals to be diagnosed with lung cancer to drastically reduce the rate of smoking. In the same manner, I believe that society will have to face the consequences of early hearing loss at a grand scale and the consequences that come with it in order to change our behavior.

References
Oyler, A. L. (n.d.). Untreated Hearing Loss in Adults-A Growing National Epidemic. Retrieved May 02, 2016, from http://www.asha.org/Aud/Articles/Untreated-Hearing-Loss-in-Adults/

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