Open Tinnitus was created by one person — known online as Traycer. Someone in their mid-twenties who developed tinnitus so severe it resulted in extreme depression initially.
The story
The tinnitus that arrived was by no means mild. It is louder than everything. No environmental sound masks it. Not rain. Not wind. Not a crowd. It sits above all of it. All day. Every day.
It competes with speakers. As someone who had always loved watching television and listening to music, both became a battle — at first, almost impossible.
But the sound was not the hardest part.
The hardest part was what living inside that sound did to a person. No quiet. No break. The understanding that this was not temporary. That this was now every morning, every attempt at rest, every ordinary moment, forever.
It led to clinical depression, and at first it became severe depression. Not as a figure of speech. As a real experience. Getting through a single day felt like something that could not be done.
That is where this started.
Over time, and after moving through many days of extreme depression and almost no sense of possibility, Traycer was able to reclaim their life.
They still have days that are harder than others. Hours where the pain in their head is real. Moments of grief that bring them to tears. That has not gone away and may never go away.
But the joy came back.
Over time, they were able to build a new life for themselves and feel joy again in activities that once brought them joy, as impossible as that had felt at the start.
Some of the things that helped in the journey of healing are listed below. These are personal items, drawn from lived experience — not prescriptions, not a programme.
Professional crisis support
Getting out of acute crisis with the help of a psychiatrist came first — before anything else was reachable. That step made everything that followed possible.
Real proof from real people
Talking to people with severe tinnitus who were still living full lives. Not stories from the internet — actual human beings who had been through the worst of it and were still here. That was irreplaceable.
Choosing what to read
Stopping the cycle of searching for answers online. When the urge to look came, turning only toward positive accounts and recovery stories — and away from the forums where despair compounds.
Returning to the world
Going back to an office and being around people again. The social reality of ordinary life gradually broke the isolation that had been making everything worse, even when the work itself felt impossible.
Grounding through the body
Using somatic grounding techniques — deliberately tensing muscles during anxiety spikes to move the anxiety through the body rather than allow it to overwhelm the mind. Even at the loudest moments, this made it possible to get through. Of everything tried, this was the most effective.
Buddhist perspectives on pain
Reading Toni Bernhard and listening to Alan Watts. Both offered a framework for carrying difficulty with grace, and a way of understanding suffering that provided genuine comfort rather than empty reassurance.
Dismantling perfectionism
Letting go of the belief that productivity determines worth, that life is a competition, and that achievement brings lasting happiness. Learning slowly to live with less, and to find that enough.
Meditation with VR
Meditation using a VR headset. The immersive environment made it possible to settle into stillness in a way that conventional seated practice had not.
Allowing the grief
Not rushing past the loss of the life that existed before tinnitus. Acknowledging it as a real loss and allowing the grief to exist rather than suppressing it.
Writing it down
Journaling — putting thoughts onto the page without needing them to resolve into anything. Externalising what was inside brought a quiet that nothing else quite replicated.
Letting go of comparison
Stopping the habit of measuring life against others who were healthy and practising gratitude for them rather than envy.
The right therapist
Finding someone who did not minimise what was happening. A therapist who could sit with the full weight of it without rushing toward silver linings.
Understanding pain and suffering as separate things
Pain — the sound, the physical reality of tinnitus — may remain. But the emotional burden around it, the suffering, can be gradually dismantled.
Identifying the source of suffering
Looking carefully at what, specifically, was generating the most distress, documenting it, and working on it with intention.
Why this exists
After coming through the worst of it, there was a clear sense of responsibility. To the person who is right now where Traycer once was. Searching the internet at 3am and finding support that exists, but is scattered, hard to reach, or not anonymous enough to feel safe.
Open Tinnitus was created to fill a gap that felt very real in the worst moments. A completely anonymous space to talk to someone who has actually been through severe tinnitus and come out the other side.
Anonymous. Free. Available at weekends when most support is closed.
This is not designed to be a profitable business. It never will be. The goal is simply to be there for one person at a time.
What this is and is not
Not medical advice. Not a cure. Not a programme. Created by someone who truly understands the extent of pain and debilitation this condition can cause.
Peer support from someone who went through extreme depression initially and found their way back. Completely anonymous on both sides. Available at weekends when other support is closed.
You do not have to figure this out alone.
If you are in a difficult place right now — even a very dark one — you are welcome to book a call. Audio only. Anonymous. No judgement.
Book a free peer support session