At weekends, we repost some of our most popular articles. Tell us what your favourites are by emailing thelimpingchicken@gmail.com.
Do deaf people sleep more peacefully than hearing folk? This question occurred to me when we were buying our house last year.
Our house is next to a main road, but since my wife and I are deaf, we had no worries over the prospect of being disturbed by traffic noise. We just wouldn’t hear it. So we went ahead and bought the house.
Meanwhile, a (non-deaf) friend who lives up the road told me that when they were looking for a house, he and his wife never looked at any houses on main roads because he’s so sensitive to sound at night.
He would literally wake up if he heard any sound at all, whether it was a bird cheeping in the morning or a car door being shut down the road. For him, buying a house by a road meant he might face years of disturbed sleep.
I’ve also long known that being married to someone who is also deaf also means I’ve got away with being a chronic snorer.
I’ve always snored – I remember hearing friends complaining about it when I stayed over at their houses when I was a child. Yet my wife sleeps soundly, no matter how loudly my nasal passages vibrate. I guess this is a whole other question: would I be happily married if my wife was hearing? Discuss…
Of course being disturbed by sound isn’t the only reason people have trouble sleeping. Stress, medication, depression or jet lag can give people insomnia, whether you’re deaf or not. But I’d guess that being able to hear makes sleeping well much harder if you suffer from any of the above (or are lucky enough to have been abroad).
I doubt whether I could sleep soundly if I was suddenly able to hear. I’ve always slept without hearing aids on, but once or twice, as a student, I accidentally went to sleep with them still on (I confess, I’d had a few drinks) and found I had disturbed nights filled with vivid, unsettling dreams – influenced by the fact that I could hear sounds (including my own snoring!) while I was asleep.
I’m so used to sleeping in relative silence that curiously, relatively minor sounds can wake me up. A few weeks ago, a smoke alarm in our bedroom made a bleeping sound at night, because its battery had gone flat. I didn’t know what the sound was, but I could hear the beep (which occurred every minute or so) faintly and eventually I woke up, felt a bit confused for a while, then, after putting my hearing aids on, found out what it was.
When I mentioned this article to our Deputy Editor, Andy Palmer, he mentioned two things in relation to deafness and sleeping.
First, that his deaf son sleeps soundly even if Andy’s got people round at his house and music is on loudly. Second, he mentioned that his deaf mother can’t hear Andy’s dad snoring – but that she does get disturbed by the vibrations (!).
So deafness helps us deaf folk sleep – but hearing insomniacs who might be considering crossing over to the deaf side, be warned: it doesn’t solve everything.
So, do you think that since we can’t hear so much, deaf people sleep more soundly than hearing folk, or not? Tell us in the comments below!
The Limping Chicken is the UK’s deaf blogs and news website, and is the world’s most popular deaf blog.
Find out how to write for us by clicking here, or sign a blog for us by clicking here! Or just email thelimpingchicken@gmail.com.
Make sure you never miss a post by finding out how to follow us, and don’t forget to check out what our supporters provide:
- Phonak: innovative technology and products in hearing acoustics
- Ai-Live: Live captions and transcripts
- Bellman: hearing loss solutions
- Deaf Umbrella: sign language interpreting and communications support
- Clarion: BSL/English interpreting and employment services
- Appa: Communication services for Deaf, Deafblind and hard of hearing people
- SignVideo: Instant BSL video interpreting online
- 121 Captions: captioning and speech-to-text services
- Doncaster School for the Deaf: education for Deaf children
- Signworld: online BSL learning and teaching materials
- Sign Solutions:, language and learning
- Sign Lingual: BSL interpreting and communication services
- Action Deafness Communications: sign language and Red Dot online video interpreting
- SDHH: Project Development and Consultancy
- Mykasoft: Deaf-run Web Design Studio
- BSLcourses.co.uk: Provider of online BSL courses
- deafPLUS: Money advice line in BSL
- Hamilton Lodge School in Brighton: education for Deaf children
- Lipspeaker UK: specialist lipspeaking support
- RAD: financial advice for Deaf people
- Krazy Kat: visual theatre with BSL
- Exeter Deaf Academy: education for Deaf children
- SignHealth: healthcare charity for Deaf people
- CJ Interpreting: communication support in BSL
Lisa Baldock
December 12, 2015
How true I’ve always been a heavy sleeper xxx
LJ.
December 12, 2015
As a profoundly deaf person myself, I am quite aware of the noisy world around me when I have my hearing aid and Cochlear Implant switched on. However, when they are off and I’m in bed asleep I still have the ‘noise’ so to speak within my dreams. You see and hear things in your imagination and dreams and I’m not talking about hallucinations or delusions. The inner noise does not go away when hearing aids are taken off. I hate to think of how people with tinnitus manage to get to sleep, deaf or hearing.
Rosie Malezer
December 12, 2015
I am profoundly Deaf but suffer tinnitis and pressure inside my ears. It puzzles people why a Deafie would wear ear plugs, but it relieves the pressure. Sadly, it does not relieve the tinnitis. I have a lot of problems falling asleep for that reason, but the only things that can wake me once I am asleep are the bed shaker, the flashing light of the fire alarm next to my bed or if my husband gently shakes me awake.
I have lived by a main road before. The sound of the cars was never an issue. I have also lived very close to an international airport (I am talking 2km away), and when the planes flew so low, sometimes I would feel the floor shake (old house, wooden floor). Very unnerving sometimes 😉
Heiska74
December 12, 2015
I am deaf from south Finland. But on summer lights on the bedroom I can’t sleep or I can sleep short 4-5 h. On winter time I sleep more hours (7-8 hours). 4 different seasons in Finland. I sleep always well. Different houses. But I love sleeping. ☺
Kevin
December 14, 2015
Depend where you lived, if lived in rough area then you will have problem with people break in the house while your asleep. It didn’t make me feel safe and sound to sleep. But some how I woke up and I find out house was broke in. They must have scared and elvis left the building.
Kim Shaw
January 23, 2016
I’ve been known to attempt sleeping through a dorm fire alarm (My good ear was in the pillow). So, I totally enjoyed this blog! Of course we sleep better. But I can also relate to the wife disturbed by the vibrations from snoring. During a cruise once through three-foot seas, there’s my hearing wife, falling asleep. Me? Not a chance.