TINNITUS

Tinnitus is the leading cause of disability among military veterans, as well as a common cause of suicide. Quantifying the extent of the relationship is difficult, because the tinnitus and its resulting psychological torment—including social isolation and sleep deprivation—are often diagnosed as psychiatric conditions. But some cases are clear. A fifty-eight-year-old Welsh skipper apologized to his family in his final note that he was “literally driven mad” by the ringing in his ears. A London guitarist gave an ultimatum to his psychiatrist the last time they saw each other that he could not continue with the ringing and was “prepared to be deaf or dead.” In the Netherlands, professional clarinet player Gaby Olthuis, who heard twenty-fourhour “screeching,” publicly pleaded for medical euthanasia, which she received.