Tinnitus Management Therapy

Goebel, Gerhard; Rief, Winfried; Wise, Karen. 1998. Meeting the expectations of chronic tinnitus patients: Comparison of a structured group therapy program for tinnitus management with a problem solving group. Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 44 (6). 681-685 A therapy called tinnitus management therapy or TMT was developed using ideas of cognitive-behavioral therapy for two different groups. One-hundred fourty-four patients suffering form tinnitus aged 19-74 years were treated with this TMT compared with a normal kind of problem solving group therapy. The patients self-rated themselves on how helpful each treatment was in dealing with life problems as well as how seriously they thought that were being treated and taken seriously. These self-ratings helped professionals find that the TMT therapy worked better for these patients in coping with all the aspects of tinnitus. Anderson, Gerhard. 1997. Prior treatments in a group of tinnitus sufferers seeking treatment. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics. 66 (2). 107-110. Four groups were obtained from sixty-nine tinnitus sufferers aged 22-76 years to try and describe the distress they go through based on if they have had treatment or not. The four groups were: not treatment (24 people), acupuncture (19 people), relaxation (13 people), other treatments. (13 people). These people were asked to rate helplessness, capacity for rest, acceptability of change, emotional effects, hearing and ability to ignore using the Tinnitus Effect Questionaire. The only major difference that was found was that the untreated group had more acceptability for change. Hegel, Mark T; Martin, John B. 1998. Behavioral treatment of pulsative tinnitus and headache following traumatic head injuries: Objective polygraphic assessment of change. Behavior Modification. 22 (4). Pg. 563-573 This study was done on a 37 year old male that had a traumatic head injury. He was evaluated and put through behavioral treatment that included a polygraphic assessment of vasomotor function among other things. Lifestyle modifications and behavioral modifications helped in both functioning and figuring out the underlying physiology that relates to tinnitus. Anderson, Gerhard; Larsen, Hans-Christian. 1997. Cognitive-behavioral treatment of tinnitus in otosclerosis : A case report. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy. 25. 79-82 A male patient aged 52 years with an ear disease (otosclerosis) had symptoms that included tinnitus which caused him obvious physiological distress. The doctors found that the tinnitus that he had was stress-induced and had experienced attacks which seemed horribly unbearable. He was given ten sessions of a cognitive-behavioral therapy program and was tested before and after to find results. These results showed that the attacks became less frequent, easier to handle, and decreased annoyance, which in turn helped him cope better. Erlandsson, Soly I. 1998. Psychological counseling in a medical setting-some clinical examples given by patients with tinnitus and Meneire's disease. International Journal for the Advancement of Counseling. 20 (4). 265-276. Counseling patients with Meniere's disease showed that a defensive response to tinnitus or Meniere's disease caused a state of dysfunction and that their psychological adaption was hindered. Some of the patients found it difficult to even talk about the first attack that they experienced of the tinnitus and Meniere's disease. The counselors concluded that the reason these people are trying to find help is because they are afraid of suffering a mental breakdown. They don't think it has much to do with the physical disease, so specialists need to come at it from a psychological perspective.