Sudden idiopathic hearing loss: psychopathology and antecedent stressful life-events.

Otologists repeatedly state that patients suffering from Sudden Idiopathic Hearing Loss (SIHL) often have significant emotional problems or stressful living conditions. The study described here compared males and females suffering from SIHL with controls without any impairment of the inner ear. Personality data were gathered by means of Faschingbauer's Abbreviated MMPI (FAM). Stress factors were assessed by an Inventory of Stressful Life-Events (ILE). SIHL patients reported more stressful life-events, whose distressing effects lasted until onset of symptoms, than controls. There was no significant influence of personality upon report of stress. Stress factors and inability to cope with these seem to be important psychological factors in SIHL patients, while psychopathological disturbances may be important for some but not for the majority of cases.