I took a class this summer on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) population because I wanted to learn about people like me. Today I started posting the first of those reviews, I hope you find some meaning and insight into the veterans mind who has suffered from auditory injuries in combat.
I wear hearing aids and have only 25% of hearing in my left ear and 50% in my right ear. I sustained this injury in Desert Storm from an artillery impact, just far enough out of the kill zone, but close enough to have permanent damage to my hearing. I have been rated 10% service-connection compensation for hearing loss, 10% for tinnitus and 30% for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
As you will read in a couple of other posts, hearing loss and especially tinnitus can lead to misdiagnosis of mental illnesses and greatly impede coping and functioning. While writing these reviews I was thinking back and had come to realize it took me 7 or 8 years to desenitize to the constant drone of static and auditory garbage. The constant roar, ringing, and pulses triggered my PTSD and I did not realize it until I read these articles. My oh, my how we can forget some of the biggest things to happen in our lives, that is, we who have the blessing of traumatic experinces.
Read the complete post at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PtsdASoldiersPerspective/~3/Vb-6UEkIB_M/deaf-and-hard-of-hearing-veterans.html
Posted
Jul 27 2009, 04:53 PM
by
PTSD: A Soldier's Perspective