In Romeo and Juliet , Shakespeare contrasts one of life’s most pleasurable sounds with one of its most disturbing. Romeo describes Juliet’s voice as “ How silver-sweet sound lovers’ tongues by night, Like softest music to attending ears!” In contrast, he later refers to “the shrieks of mandrakes torn out of the earth” , sounds so horrifying that they were believed to drive those who heard them mad (Shakespeare,...
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Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
No actionable clinical change — this is a philosophical opinion piece without clinical evidence; it may prompt reflection on patient-centred tinnitus counselling approaches.
Exploring the subjective and potentially varied emotional experience of tinnitus could encourage more nuanced, individualised patient counselling in audiology practice.
- 01The piece explores the concept that tinnitus (ringing in the ears) is not universally unpleasant.
- 02Literary references including Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet are used to frame auditory experience.
- 03The author challenges the default clinical framing of tinnitus as purely negative.
- 04No clinical data or studies are cited to support the central argument.
Tinnitus can, in some cases, be experienced as pleasant rather than distressing.
opinionunclear