Shatner Almost Committed Suicide Over Tinnitus Trouble

06 March 2009

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Star Trek icon William Shatner once contemplated suicide because his hearing problems were driving him mad.

The actor has revealed the permanent hiss of tinnitus, caused by an explosion on the set of Star Trek, used to keep him awake at night - and he started fearing he'd never shake the noise.

He tells the Globe magazine, "It was like listening to the hiss of a TVthat's not tuned to a channel. I thought I'd go deaf or nuts. "I thought of killing myself".

Now the condition doesn't affect meWilliam Shatner

Shatner eventually underwent tinnitus refraining therapy, which helped him retrain his brain to ignore the noise.

The actor says, "Now the condition doesn't affect me". Shatner isn't the only star to have suffered from tinnitus - The Who's Pete Townshend, Barbra Streisand and fellow Star Trek veteran Leonard Nimoy have also fought the hearing condition.

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