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Abstract
Tinnitus is often associated with hearing loss, but the severity of tinnitus suffering depends on many factors. It is important to differentiate the etiology of the debut of tinnitus from the etiology of the development of persistent tinnitus. There are different methods for measuring tinnitus symptoms such as clinical grading, psychoacoustical measurement and the use of questionnaires. The correlation between psychological/ psychiatric factors, and the suffering from tinnitus is strong and is often associated with anxiety and depressive disorders, as well as poorer general health. We suggest that there is a possibility of common neurochemical dysfunctions in patients with severe tinnitus and patients with depressive disorders. A dysfunction in the serotonergic (5-HT) system is likely, because of its involvement in both the regulation of concentration, sleep and mood and in the modulation of the sensory processing in the auditory pathways and auditory cortex.