Friendships are an essential part of life. We rely on our friends to celebrate with us when we’re happy and support us when we’re sad. If one of your friends has hearing loss, they might need a little extra from that support side of your friendship.
Why Your Support Matters
The importance of supportive friendships can’t be overstated. The American Psychological Association (APA) found that friendships protect us by altering the way we respond to stress.[1] They offered information from a few studies:
- Blood pressure is less reactive when people talk to a supportive friend
- Heart rate was less reactive when participants had a friend by their side when completing a task
- People judged a hill as less steep when they were accompanied by a friend
It’s not difficult to apply these same findings to supporting a friend with hearing loss. The connection is greatest in that last point. Just as people judged a hill as less steep with a friend by their side, your friend might not view hearing loss as quite so insurmountable a condition with your support.
Practical Ways To Offer Support
A few ways you can support your friend include:
- Talk it out. If your friend needs to vent, listen and respond empathetically. Remember that there are no wrong emotions. If they’re angry because they can’t keep up during meetings at work, let them be angry. If they’re relieved that they’re finally getting treatment for their hearing loss, celebrate with them.
- Use communication strategies. Facing your friend while you talk, using context clues and body language to increase understanding and rephrasing or repeating when necessary are all effective strategies to make speech easier for your friend to understand.
- Go to their hearing aid appointment. Offer to attend your friend’s hearing aid appointment with them. You can listen, take notes and help them pick out their devices.
- Find new ways to spend time together. If your friend has trouble keeping up at noisy Augusta restaurants, swap your dinners out for a relaxing park day, or start going out to dinner earlier when traffic is slower. Remember not to make assumptions about what your friend can handle. Instead, offer a list of places and let them choose the one that sounds best. They might be jonesing for a night out on the town. If that’s the case, it’s a great opportunity to practice effective communication strategies.
With your help, your friend won’t feel like they’re navigating their journey alone. To learn more about hearing loss, look through our blog or contact our specialists at Augusta – Aiken ENT & Allergy today.
[1] Abrams, Z. (2023, June 1). *The science of friendship*. Monitor on Psychology, 54(4). American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2023/06/cover-story-science-friendship