What if my passion in life is music? Either the focus of my world has to shift to something else or I have to adjust my world to fit the new circumstances. I can no longer hear. I can still feel the rhythm of the music, and I can still understand the lyrics if I need to, but some of the magic of it is taken away.
Another example: What if my profession deals directly with speaking to people, like a therapist, or a stand-up comedian?

The point of all of this is that losing my hearing is a BIG change, whether any of the above scenarios are true or not. As soon as a big change like this happens, I begin to doubt and question things I thought were stable in my life. It presents the possibility that other changes could happen at any time. Whether you think you know this now or not, you never really understand it until it happens to you.

If too many changes happen, a fear of being unable to adapt quick enough begins to grow. If I can’t adapt quick enough, I am vulnerable. ....Which leads to a fear of death.