Derrick Brown

Eleven million people in the UK with hearing loss, that’s one in six. Bella Bathurst was one of these, and she perfectly describes the emotional, psychological and physical effects of gradually losing one’s hearing. I recognised her descriptions of the frustrations and the stages that one goes through, because I’m in the same camp. She makes the point that totally deaf people only number 60,000 and these people have special solutions to assist with their special problems. That leaves a large number of partially deaf, from slightly to seriously affected, who have to muddle through with partial solutions to help them get through an increasingly noisy world. Bella went through a long period where she had lost some hearing but didn’t want to admit to it, so she pretended to hear, and got herself into trouble because she wouldn’t even tell her friends and family. This is very common and can cause depression, as it did with Bella. Being unable to communicate effectively cuts you out of the world of people, leaving you in a different place, says Bella, and she describes how she dealt with this, slowly sinking into a quiet world where her life became intolerable and intimate friendships impossible. She eventually got help and even after twelve years, recovered her hearing, after operations. This is she admits, an extremely rare result, and came about only because her condition to start with was rare. Most people reading this book who suffer from hearing loss will not recover their hearing, on the contrary, they will lose more as they age. But they will find much to enjoy and laugh at in the pages as Bella looks at hearing from all angles. Her research is meticulous and her explanations are easy to follow. As with any problem that affects our health a better understanding is a tool that we can use to improve our lot, and there is much here to take in. And those with perfect hearing? Thank your lucky stars, hope that things stay that way, and read this anyway. You’ll enjoy it and will be able to be part of the solution for the many who aren’t so lucky.