Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 January 2018
While there is general agreement that deafness, either congenital or acquired in early childhood, is psychologically damaging (Oléron, 1953; Furth, 1961; and Vernon, 1966), opinions are divided on the adverse effects that deafness beginning in adolescence or in adult life may have on mental health. For example, Furth (1966) has reported that the way of life of the adult deaf should not be all that different from people with normal hearing, although it has been generally held that deafness in adults predisposes to the development of irascibility and paranoid attitudes (Kraepelin, 1915; Slater et al., 1969). The relationship between deafness and paranoid illness has been investigated by Houston et al. (1964) and Kay et al. (1961).
eLetters
No eLetters have been published for this article.