Psychological aspects of psychogenic deafness in children

Twenty-nine children with psychogenic deafness were investigated from audiological and psychological aspects. ABR and Békésy audiometry were useful for diagnosing psychogenic deafness. The elapsed time from the start of treatment to audiometric recovery was significantly shorter in patients receiving psychological treatment, indicating that treatment by a team of otologists and counselors was able to hasten recovery in children with psychogenic deafness. The pattern of hearing recovery in the treated group was classified into 3 types and in the control group into 4 types. Counseling seemed to have a positive effect on patients with fluctuating improvement. In the patients in the treated group, the elapsed time to audiometric recovery from the beginning of psychological treatment was 7.5 months; however, in the control group recovery it took 17.1 months. Psychological treatment revealed that the clinical course of psychogenic deafness in children seemed to have some relation to the patient's personality and psychological stresses.