A Northern Ireland man has opened up about the mental and physical toll of life with tinnitus.
Tinnitus affects 7.6 million people in the UK. A person typically hears noises - such as a ringing, buzzing or humming - that do not come from an outside source, according to the NHS.
Paul, a deaf BSL user, has had tinnitus for four years and sharing his story to mark Tinnitus Awareness Week 2025, he says the condition affects every part of his life.
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He told Belfast Live: "Many people assume that because I am deaf, I experience complete silence, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I have tinnitus – a constant sound in my head that never goes away. For me, tinnitus is the only sound I hear, and it can be overwhelming.
"Tinnitus affects every part of my life, but the worst part is trying to sleep. When the world around me is quiet, my tinnitus is loud. It can be a high-pitched ringing, a buzzing, or even a pulsing sound that never stops. Some nights, it’s impossible to fall asleep, and I end up exhausted the next day. Lack of sleep affects my concentration, my mood, and my overall wellbeing.
"There is a mental toll too. Imagine being stuck in a room with an alarm going off 24/7 – you can’t turn it off, you can’t escape it. That’s what tinnitus feels like. It causes stress, anxiety, and sometimes even feelings of hopelessness. People don’t realise how draining it is to live with constant noise that no one else can hear."
Paul also detail how tinnitus impacts on his work: "At work, tinnitus makes focusing difficult. The sound competes with my thoughts, making it harder to concentrate on tasks. If I’m using video calls for meetings, I have to concentrate even harder on lipreading or watching the interpreter while my tinnitus distracts me. It’s exhausting.
"Stress makes tinnitus worse, so work deadlines and pressure can make the noise in my head even louder. Some days, it’s so bad that I struggle to communicate properly because my brain feels overloaded."
Highlighting the barriers to awareness, Paul added: "One of the biggest challenges I face is the lack of awareness that deaf people can have tinnitus too. Many hearing people assume that tinnitus only affects those who have hearing loss but still hear some sounds. They don’t realise that for some deaf people, tinnitus is the only sound they ever experience.
"Even within the deaf community, tinnitus is not widely talked about. Support services are often designed for hearing people with tinnitus, focusing on sound therapies or hearing aids – neither of which help me. There is a lack of accessible information in BSL, and that means many deaf people with tinnitus struggle in silence."
While these issues affect many, AdaptNI is flashing the alarm for profoundly deaf BSL and ISL users like Paul who experience debilitating tinnitus. They say that too often, tinnitus solutions focus on sound-based therapies—excluding those who rely on sign language and it’s time for a new approach.
This Tinnitus Awareness Week 2025 highlights the urgent need for improved tinnitus care across the UK, as anticipated in Tinnitus UK’s upcoming report. The findings are expected to reveal unacceptable delays for ENT referrals, outdated assessment techniques, and a lack of specialist training for audiologists.
AdaptNI was set up on 1st July 2022 to bridge the gap in specialist pre-and in-work support services when the only Northern Ireland provider closed. AdaptNI delivers the programme across NI helping people who are deaf, have hearing loss and/or tinnitus, to build their skills through education, training and access to volunteering, further education and the workplace.
The charity is warning that the deaf, hearing loss, and tinnitus communities now face yet another period of uncertainty—ironically, as the BSL and ISL Bill progresses through Stormont. Without sustainable investment in tailored support post-March 2025 is without specialist service, they say.
AdaptNI is calling for research into tinnitus in profoundly deaf individuals; accessible, non-audio-based support solutions and specialist training to meet BSL/ISL users’ needs.
Paul also says more awareness is needed: "Deaf people need access to information about tinnitus in BSL, and professionals need to understand that tinnitus affects us too. Support should be inclusive, offering visual or mindfulness-based strategies rather than just sound-based therapies.
"Tinnitus is not just a hearing condition – it’s a wellbeing condition. It affects mental health, sleep, and daily life, whether you are hearing or deaf. It’s time for better recognition, support, and understanding for deaf BSL users like me who live with this invisible but life-changing condition," he added.
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