The 'group thing' stymies a lot of people when it comes to getting help. You know how helpful it is to talk to others who share your personal health experiences. It validates feelings, frustrations and experiences. Just knowing that someone else knows what you are going through because they have been there helps.

A big issue with hearing loss, that is overlooked, is the fatigue factor. It takes a lot of energy for a person with hearing loss to concentrate in social settings.When you've exhausted your energy it's easier to tune out than to try to keep up. When that happens, we tune out and get lost in the conversation. Others don't understand this. They simply think we are not paying attention and fault us for that. "If you'd pay attention you'd know what we were talking about." We ask for repeats to the annoyance of others. We stop doing that because we know it's annoying them. We get very frustrated when we ask for a repeat and the response is "Never mind, it wasn't important." This cycle continues. It's easier to drop out.

I use a remote hand held microphone in social settings. Without it I may as well be home alone. It's not perfect, but it takes the edge off the stress and fatigue. It also shows that I am trying to help myself. Audiologists should share add on technologies with their clients. They rarely do. Consequently, we learn more about what's available from each other than from them. That hesitancy to share these 'extras' is exacerbated by the reluctance hard of hearing people have for getting help in the first place. They don't want to 'over sell', which is understandable.