Ear Function in SSRI Withdrawal:
A Comparison with Symptoms of Other Ear-Related Syndromes

Laurna Tallman

The Theory: Laurna Tallman’s discovery of the dysfunctional right ear’s effect on behaviour by failing to control left-brain dominance leads her to assign the etiology of those behavioural symptoms to weakness (lack of tonus) in the stapedius muscle in the right middle ear. Tallman’s research¹ shows that the degree of volitional control by the left-brain originates in the right stapedius muscle. Self-control is a function of the strength and flexibility (tonus) of that muscle, not of any intention ideation, the force of which depends on the sound energy reaching the brain.¹ In fact, deliberate rational (left-brain) action is physically impossible when the cerebral hemispheres are integrating poorly, whether slowly, as in bipolarity, or sequentially, as in autism and schizophrenia. Like the audio-phono loop in which the ear controls the voice (the Tomatis² Effect, 1957), the relationship of the right ear to the left-brain’s co-ordination of other body systems is cybernetic, with control being exercised by the muscles of the middle ear. Normally, the right ear controls the speeds of hemispheric integration by maintaining dominance in the left cerebral hemisphere. Only when the left hemisphere is dominant is it possible for the person to learn to exercise control over behaviour prompted by the primal urges and by emotions formed in the right-brain.

The Study: The author considers data about their symptoms volunteered by 107 persons (a) discontinuing SSRIs and other psychoactive medications and/or (b) with residual symptoms after cessation. Those symptoms are compared with symptoms of known origin in the ears.

The Findings: Of those 107 subjects, 98% of “a” and 91% of “b” have symptoms consistent with severe, right middle-ear damage. All suicidal subjects in both categories have symptoms of severe middle-ear damage. More than half of those with suicidal tendencies report symptoms consistent with dysfunction in the vestibule, cochlea, or both parts of the inner ear. Among suicidal subjects reporting only one locus of inner ear symptom (cochlea or vestibular canals), twice as many subjects report vestibular symptoms as those reporting cochlear symptoms. Whether during withdrawal or when dealing with residual symptoms, more than 50% of the subjects at either stage of discontinuation, (a) or (b), who show moderate symptoms of middle ear damage, also contemplate or attempt suicide. Sixty-two per cent of the subjects (a) in SSRI withdrawal and 63% of persons (b) with residual symptoms report having problems with the inner ear, either the vestibule (a=46% and b=42%) or cochlea (a=39% and b=35%) or both (a=21% and b=22%).

The Conclusions: In view of the spontaneous recoveries and partial recoveries of these subjects and the similarity of their symptoms to those improved or healed by the Tomatis Method, Bérard’s AIT, or Focused Listening (with headphones, right ear only) to high-frequency music, it seems likely that appropriate music therapy could greatly accelerate the SSRI withdrawal and recovery process, possibly also improving or healing the underlying condition for which antidepressants were prescribed.

[1] Tallman, Listening for the Light, ch. 11.

[2] Alfred Tomatis, despite remarkable discoveries and high levels of success with his patients, did not understand cerebral integration. He tried unsuccessfully to convince his Canadian associates that mental illness originates in the ear, an impossible task without understanding right-ear-driven left-brain dominance. (The Conscious Ear, My Life of Transformation through Listening [Barrytown, NY, and Sound Listening and Learning Center, Phoenix, Ariz.: Station Hill Press, 1991] 2001). Guy Bérard’s book Hearing Equals Behavior (New Canaan, Conn.: Keats, 1993) also lacks the overarching paradigm of left-cerebral dominance for understanding the changes his very successful method achieves. The second edition of his book with Sally Brockett offers various proposals for theories of audio-processing, none of which considers cerebral integration.