Wanting to Be Deaf
Thursday July 29, 2004
Believe it or not, in an era of using technology to battle hearing loss, there are actually people who *want* to be deaf. Yahoo has a group just for them: The Deaf Wannabe group. This is an adults-only group. Plus, I just received this e-mail from an About Deafness visitor:
"I was wondering what I could do to destroy the auditory nerve without having surgery. Could I take hazardous drugs? Could I light my eardrum with a match? Could I pour poisonous chemicals in my ears? If no, what should I do? I want to be totally deaf. I have tried exposing them to really high intensity sound to damage them, but the hearing keeps coming back."
Needless to say, I told the person they shouldn't try to damage their hearing as they may miss it someday...
Once you get over your initial shock and disbelief, hop over to the forum to discuss this...
these people probably have a psychological disorder, maybe similar to [body dysmorphic disorder](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_dysmorphic_disorder). i wouldn’t say that they’re necessarily stupid or wrong. i think that if not being deaf makes them unhappy to the point that it interferes with their daily life, then they should seek medical help to safely deafen themselves.