Stress-related tinnitus treatment protocols: new treatment approaches for chronic tinnitus-related distress

Tinnitus suffering might be understood as a function of tinnitus-related distress, which is a reaction to negative stressors and leads to a very negative and aversive state, when processes of adaptation to stressors and the efforts thereto have failed to return the organism to calmness of homeostasis. This chapter will provide an overview of this phenomenon. To provide a framework for the treatment avenues that are typically designed to relieve tinnitus-related distress, several concepts such as stress, distress, and tinnitus suffering are presented. Furthermore, an overview of theoretical frameworks in which the psychological mechanisms are predicted by these models is presented. Finally, different treatment approaches will be described, and some of the most commonly used instruments used to assess tinnitus-related distress and associated variables will be presented.