By Siobhan Farrell
I am writing to introduce myself and the book I am writing that will be a compilation of first-person stories of people with loudness and pain hyperacusis. The working title is “Hyperacusis Heroes: Making Your Voice Heard When Every Sound Hurts.”
Unfortunately, due to the rarity of hyperacusis, there is a lack of understanding and knowledge about the condition, even among medical professionals. What I have discovered is that unlike many other disabilities and chronic conditions, there are no anthologies or collections of personal stories published in book form about hyperacusis. So by publishing this book, I hope to develop greater awareness and understanding about hyperacusis.
I myself have a hearing loss, severe hyperacusis, and reactive tinnitus and have been homebound for over two years. I believe that the highly ototoxic chemotherapy I had seven years ago for my colon cancer as well as noise exposure led to these conditions.They were mild when I first developed them four years ago but have steadily worsened.
We are fortunate today that with several online communities, we are better able to connect with others who share our condition and who can validate our own subjective experiences. As a follower of this blog and forums on Facebook and other social media, you are likely aware that people with hyperacusis are the real experts about our condition.
We provide information and support to one another because we are often more knowledgeable than health professionals we have visited for their medical expertise around diagnoses and treatments. Like many chronic conditions which are not well understood and/or invisible, mental health issues are often given as the diagnosis.
I decided, as a writer, I could author a book, bringing together people’s stories to help educate the public and the medical community about pain and loudness hyperacusis communities. In terms of my writing background, I have published poetry and nonfiction. I have woven some of my experiences into some of those pieces.
For the stories, I am looking for experiences that include descriptions of you as a whole person, not just your hyperacusis, and including relevant anecdotes and examples that illustrate your journey and emotions. Ideally the book will contain 30 to 40 such stories.
I would love to do spoken interviews but since my hyperacusis is severe, I am asking contributors to submit the story via email and follow up questions can be done via email or Zoom’s chat and/or captioning feature, so we can both limit our sound exposure.
If you are interested in telling your story (which can be anonymous if you choose), you may express your interest by emailing editor@hhf.org and HHF will pass along your information to me. I will then be in touch with you about specifics and other information, including some questions to get you started. The deadline is November 30, 2025. Thank you for your time and interest.
Siobhan Farrell lives in Ontario, Canada.
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