The Association Between Tinnitus and Mental Illnesses

Tinnitus is defined as a perception of sound which is unrelated to an external acoustic source (Kompis et al., 2004). Some sufferers usually describe the noise as “ringing” but oth‐ ers describe it with various hyperboles such as grinding, whistling, humming, roaring, chirping, howling, buzzing or clicking. It is a symptom of unknown patho-physiology with few therapeutic measures (Tan et al., 1999). Even as there are many available potential treat‐ ment modalities, there has never been a single intervention which has been identified to consistently eliminate this symptom. It has become a source of increasing health concern af‐ fecting all strata of the public manifesting with comorbid psychological stresses which ne‐ cessitate psychiatric treatment (Halford& Anderson, 1991; Schaaf et al., 2003).