A recent survey conducted among adults with hearing loss in the US has discovered it puts a severe strain on relationships.
Communication is fundamental to every relationship, so it's hardly surprising couples find hearing loss difficult to cope with.
According to figures from the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID), there are about 2,366,000 people with mild to moderate deafness aged between 16 and 60-years-old in the UK.
Emotions caused when one partner feels they are not being listened to, as a result of hearing loss, were found to range from frustration to sadness.
Some 32 per cent of the 2,576 adults surveyed confessed they felt annoyed with their partner about the condition.
Dr John Gray, author of the bestseller Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus, agrees with the findings.
"It is very important for people in relationships to connect with each other, verbally and emotionally. Those who don't feel heard, figuratively or literally, can feel isolated or depressed," he said.
Importantly, the results of the study revealed that although hearing loss causes so much damage to relationships, few sufferers seek the help that is available.
Of those hearing loss sufferers surveyed, 57 per cent of women and 37 per cent of men had not sought treatment.
