Behavioral Therapy
Tinnitus can pose a great challenge to the sufferer. Apart from the acoustic disturbance, the emotional reaction to this disturbance is another challenge that is to be countered. Behavioral therapy targets this aspect of symptoms. It aims to modify the emotional response and equip the sufferer with a better coping mechanism. Cognitive skills are the primary target of this therapy. It rectifies tinnitus perception by conditioning the patient to show a diminished response to it. Relaxation exercises, indulgence in harmless pleasure activities are other strategies by which anxiety, annoyance, and depression related to tinnitus can be managed. Sometimes, the patients are highly invested in their symptoms and so perceive tinnitus with a greater degree of severity even when the tonal severity is tolerable. In such conditions, distractive techniques are learnt which allows positive thought building and the elimination of negative thought processes via metacognition.