Everyone knows how annoying noise is when trying to relax or concentrate. But it may have more severe effects than you might think. This article will inform you how noise can affect you when suddenly exposed to it and when you are exposed to it for a long time via noise pollution. This article will also advise you on ways to reduce noise’s effect on your mental health.
How does sudden noise affect us?
Noise is a loud, unpleasant, or frightening sound. Unexpected noise can trigger a stress response in the amygdala. The amygdala is part of the brain in charge of emotions, memory and the fight or flight response. The amygdala, over time, identifies and remembers sounds that can relate to danger, like a car’s horn. When a potential threat is detected, your amygdala triggers a release of a stress hormone called cortisol by alerting another part of your brain. The stress hormones then trigger the fight or flight response to help you avoid or deal with the potential danger.
So, we now know noise can cause a startle response, which will release adrenaline into the bloodstream. The release of adrenaline will make you feel constant tiredness and stress. Long term stress can cause or aggravate your physical and mental health problems. The issues stress can cause or worsen are:
- Weakened immune system
- Heart diseases
- Reproductive issues
- Sleep issues, such as insomnia
- Depression
- Anxiety
Anxiety can cause you to be more or overly sensitive to otherwise ordinary situations, leading to more pressure. Extreme cases of stress can cause you to develop anxiety. When you have a high level of stress or anxiety, you may become more susceptible to noise. Which makes sudden noises cause more anxiety.
How can it affect those with noise anxiety?
Certain noises can also harm or trigger someone with noise anxiety, which is an umbrella term for many different conditions, usually for disorders where noise can damage one’s mental health, generally triggering another state.
Loud noises can increase stress levels in someone with phonophobia, which is a fear of loud noises.
Noise can also increase people’s stress levels if they have other conditions such as anxiety disorders like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). That is because certain noises, depending on the trauma, can trigger those with PTSD, which will send them into many states such as panic or flashbacks, depending on the person.
If you have misophonia, which can translate into “hatred of sound”, noise can send you into a sudden rage that can cause you to hurt yourself or someone else. However, not only would you have a chance of injuring yourself physically, but you can also hurt your relationships with others causing you to become even more stressed and anxious.
You are more at risk of developing general noise anxiety than others if you suffer from depression or anxiety.
How does noise pollution affect us?
Your environment has many problems that can negatively affect your mood, productivity, and mental health.
In the long term, being subjected to excessive sound can adversely impact your mental health and damage your hearing. So, noises in your environment, whether at home, work or anywhere else you are for an extended period, can also affect your mood, health, and productivity.
Excessive sound in your environment can cause or worsen many mental and physical health issues.
Excessive noises can make you mentally exhausted, impairing judgment and reducing morale. In addition to this, it can trigger physiologic stress responses such as sharp increases in blood pressure and increased heart rate. So, to conclude, excessive noises can increase your stress levels.
The noise pollution at a workplace is usually more than at your home, leading to people feeling anxious when working if they know the effects of noise pollution on mental health. When one thinks of workplace noise pollution, one commonly thinks of louder workplaces like building sites or factories. Still, the office environment is not immune to the scourge of noise pollution. Examples of noise pollution in the office are things other people do, like drumming on the desk or speaking loudly. Even small things like this can distract and irritate people, leading to decreased productivity making them stressed and anxious.
Your mental health isn’t the only thing noise pollution can harm, as it can also cause or aggravate other problems with your health, such as:
- High blood pressure
- Stress-related illness
- Speech interference
- Hearing loss
- Sleep disruption, can also cause and exacerbate problems to do with your health
if left unaddressed, problems caused by noise pollution can develop into other underlying health conditions like depression
Tips on how to reduce noise pollution and its effect on your mental health
While avoiding noise pollution in large towns and cities is almost impossible for most, there are ways to reduce it at your home. Here are some of the ways to reduce noise pollution and its effects on yourself and your family at home:
- Reduce how much noise you hear and for how long from appliances. Either manually turn off or set timers to turn on or off appliances when needed. Devices such as air conditioning units, heaters, fans, extractors, etc., can contribute a lot to the overall noise level of your home, so reducing how long they are on can help with noise levels in your house.
- Lower the overall volume of all media devices and avoid unnecessary background noise (BGN). If you can’t just lower the volume of your media device for whatever reason, make sure you reduce the duration of time you listen to the loud device. To avoid BGN schedule dedicated time to use just one media device. For example, setting aside time only to watch TV or listen to music.
- Replace older machinery and appliances, as they are usually louder than their newer counterparts. However, only do this if you can afford to do so.
- Soundproofing your home by adding additional insulation around your home that can help muffle sounds from other rooms, neighbours or outside. The problem with this is that it can be expensive.
- Set time aside for quieter activities, such as reading, puzzles, or colouring in. however, avoid BGN.
- If you cannot avoid loud noise, use ear protection, such as earmuffs or earplugs, to at least mitigate the damage it can cause.
- Manage your stress properly.
Contact your local doctor (GP) to help and give you medical advice if you believe you have any of the problems mentioned in this article.
