Are your ears playing musical tricks?

A friend of mine had a running battle with his next door neighbor about the sound level on his stereo and television.
"The other night, the cops showed up at my door. That was the last straw."
The thing is, Ray wasn't playing the television or music that night. He was sound asleep at 9 p.m. after spending a few hours at a bar with friends.
"I brought the cops in and said 'see?' They're both off."
The battle royale got so heated -- with the neighbor clearly in the wrong -- that the super eventually moved her to another floor.
Was the neighbor crazy or did she suffer from "a musical ear," hallucinations that made her actually believe there was music playing?
Last year, I ran into Dr. Neil Bauman, an expert on the musical ear phenomenon.
He says hallucinations occur when your brain thinks something is happening even though your five senses have not received any direct stimulus. They can be visual (seeing), auditory (hearing), olfactory (smelling), gustatory (tasting), or tactile (feeling). Auditory hallucinations are by far, the most common.
If you've ever had this condition, you may be thinking that you are down right mentally ill. Schizophrenics have people talking to them all the time.
The good news is that there are two kinds of hallucinations: psychiatric and non-psychiatric.
If you're hearing your voices telling you to do something, get ye to a psychiatrist, stat!
But if you hear, say, Christmas carols or the national anthem -- the most common musical hallucinations -- or a phantom radio playing in another room, not to worry, says Dr. Bauman. It's just your auditory circuits playing tricks.
Dr. Bauman gives talks around North America and he says he finds some 10 to 30 percent of his audiences come up to him and admit they hear these kind of sounds on a regular basis.
Who gets musical ear?

• About two-thirds are over 50, with a third of the sufferers over 70.
• Generally, the person has some hearing loss.
• Three times as many sufferers are women.
• Commonly it appears in people who are depressed or anxious.
• More often than not, the person has tinnitus, a ringing in their ears.
• The sounds come from an actual real direction which convinces the subject that the sound is real.

What can you do if you think you suffer from this condition?

Dr. Bauman suggests you seek medical help from a professional who specializes in conditions of the brain. You will want to rule out a brain tumor or other abnormality.

Here are his other suggestions:

• Learn about music ear syndrome. The more you know, the less you fear.
• Convince yourself that the sounds aren't real. If it happens at night, put a pillow over your ears. If you can still hear the sounds, they aren't real.
• Reduce your anxiety level. Anxiety feeds into musical ear. 
• Rule out any reactions from drugs you might be taking.
• Enrich your environment with real sounds. Musical Ear often occurs because of the lack of auditory stimulation.
• Become more socially active. This will help ease depression and distract your mind from the sounds you don't want to hear.

If you want to learn more about this condition, I suggest visiting Neil Bauman's website which has some very helpful information. He is also an entertaining speaker.

http://www.hearinglosshelp.com