Tortured by Sound: Beyond Human Endurance

Due to a hearing injury, I came down with Hyperacusis 8 years ago. Very few people knew about it then and while many people are learning about it in the medical field, there are still disagreements on what protocol to follow as, indeed, Hyperacusis is not one size-fits-all. What may work for one person may not work for another person. I was not able to find someone then who could help me on a regular basis and have been "on my own since then." It is apparent that this is not a good idea! Frnakly, I would recommend this book to anyone who is searching to learn more about what to do with their Hyperacusis. I read this book knowing that the author has utter compassion for others and while I have not experienced the extremes of what she went through, I identified with much of it. I am convinced that the world of Hyperacusis needs someone with Carol's willingness to bare her soul and tell it like it is. Will the book scare people away? It didn't scare me away, I sought something like this out. Did it help me decide what to do about it, yes, and especially combined with other resources, the willingness of others to share their viewpoints all made deciding what route I am going to take much easier. Thanks to Carol's book, in large part, I feel confident that I will be able to live a completely normal life and never have to think about my Hyperacusis again. I owe a large debt of gratitude to people like Carol. Finally, her book reads like a novel. I couldn't put it down. Most of all, I am thrilled that she has finally found the end of the chaos that was causing her life to be turned upside down. No one on earth should have to go through what she went through.

-This is being posted for Karen LorentzI could relate to many of the feelings Carol expressed in her book. I even called her several times while I was reading the book to say, "WOW-that's exactly how I felt!"She shared many tips that I feel are helping my recovery. This book is definately a must if you are suffering from hyperacusis.

-I'm posting this for Karen LorentzI could relate to many of the feelings Carol expressed in her book. I even called her several times while I was reading the book to say, "Wow! That's exactly how I felt."Carol shared many tips that I feel are helpful to my recovery.This book is definately a help if you're suffering from hyeracusis.Karen Lorentz

The fear and pain the author suffered from hyperacusis and tinnitus helps me recognize and anticipate what hyperacusis is slowly doing to me and those around me. Ms. Carol Lee Brook shares: "Carol listens carefully to the refrigerator. She visualizes it alive. It roars like a lion. The washer and dryer clang like thunder. Cars outside zoom like jets. She no longer feels safe in her home.... Her hands shake. She runs to the bathroom every few minutes from nerves. Her weight is dropping while her sobbing and anxiety are mounting." Although this is not a literary masterpiece, and in my opinion, should be re-told in a non-literary style or at least first person narrative, it is worth reading if you have hyperacusis. The master craftsman Edgar Alan Poe in his short story, "The Tell-Tale Heart," describes an apparent fictional account of hyperacusis: "... very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses --not destroyed --not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? .... And have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over-acuteness of the sense? --now, I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I knew that sound well, too. It was the beating of the old man's heart. It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage." When I read this as a child, it was pure fiction. After experiencing just a little of this lonely disease, I understand nore about it after reading Ms. Brook's story--far from perfect, but close to home. After less than a month of listening to pink sound for two hours a day, I am being freed from the slow, almost imperceptible fear of sound that had been growing within me. Poe's story ends with the main character confessing to murder due to auditory hullicinations. However, Ms. Brook's ends in joy. Her book helped me understand and celebrate the joy of recovery: "Carol sits in the Orioles; stadium (baseball)... She stands for the national anthem. The sound level is fine. Carol is overwhelmed .... Her eyes are filled with tears of joy. Am I going to keep crying from everything I've missed." This description punctuated the joy I felt when I recently listened to the Chicago symphony orchestra with it's full percussion section on "full volume." If you want to know that you are not alone, that you level of discomfort is comparable to others', and that your feelings relate to the disease, I recommend that you read this book.

Carol has summed up in her book what true suffering is with Tinnitus and Hyperacusis. Through her story she tells you where you can get help for this terrible affliction. Thanks to Carol I have been in touch with Dr. Jastreboff in Atlanta, and hopefully will be on my way to see him. No one can truly understand what it is like to have a constant loud ringing, whistling, or roaring sound that is constantly changing, in your head, 24 hours a day.Many people are told there is nothing you can do about this and that's not true. Thanks to Carol's story, I hope others with this probelm will read it and search out help for themsevles. There is hope! Thank you Carol for your Story.