I mentioned a few posts back that my social life has doubled since going deaf, while others, who lose their hearing suddenly, report a loss of social life and self confidence. I've been deaf for three months now and I'm only just beginning to understand why this happens. It is simply exhausting to communicate with hearing people. Especially when you haven't built up the skills (lip-reading) needed to aid that communication. While my lip-reading is good, it's not great and there is no way I can follow a conversation easily. I also can't lip-read everyone. Young children, people with thin lips, people who mumble and people who talk too fast are impossible to read. Lip-reading also requires you to watch people's mouths all the time and sometimes this feels creepy, especially when I've always looked people in the eye.
So rather than face the stress and trauma of trying to communicate in the outside world, sometimes it's easier to remain in the inside world.
