COMPARISON BETWEEN SELF-HYPNOSIS, MASKING AND ATTENTIVENESS FOR ALLEVIATION OF CHRONIC TINNITUS

The efficacy of self-hypnosis (SH), masking (MA) and attentiveness to the patient's complaints (AT) in the alleviation of tinnitus was evalu ated. Forty-five male patients close in age with chronic tinnitus rela ted to acoustic trauma were assigned to three matched subgroups: SH, A T or MA. The therapeutic stimuli in the SH and MA sessions, recorded o n audio cassettes, were given to the patients for use when needed. SH significantly reduced the tinnitus severity; AT partially relieved the tinnitus; MA did not have any significant effect.