Traffic Sounds Increase Stress and Anxiety: Here's What You Can Do

It's common knowledge that nature can help relieve stress and anxiety and improve general well-being. I even wrote an article once on how nature sounds reduce stress. Just listening to birds chirping, leaves rustling, and the wind blowing can have a soothing, calming effect on humans, even lowering blood pressure. Sounds are that powerful... And dangerous.

A new study has shown that urban and traffic sounds can increase stress and anxiety.

The findings

In the study, 68 volunteers listened to three 3-minute soundscapes:

A nature soundscape
The same nature soundscape plus traffic sounds going at 20 mph
The nature soundscape plus traffic sounds going at 40 mph.

Their stress and anxiety levels were recorded before and after listening to the sounds.

After listening to the nature soundscape, the overall mood of the participants improved significantly.

But it dropped considerably when they listened to nature plus traffic.

The highest levels of stress and anxiety were recorded after listening to nature soundscape plus 40-mph traffic.

The sound of airplanes flying overhead, vehicles honking loudly, and industries grinding around us can all nullify the benefits of the little nature we see on the streets.

And this study ties nicely with a previous one about the mental health challenges you're exposed to as a city dweller. Living in an urban environment can increase your risk of depression, stress, anxiety, and schizophrenia.

Urbanization diminishes available green spaces. And this isn't good for our health in any way.

So what can we do?

Of course, urbanization is necessary, and we need vehicles, planes, and factories to meet our needs and advance as a society.

What we can do is prioritize how much time we spend in green spaces.

Green spaces can slash mental illness rate by 60%.

You can't always go to a park or jet off to a beach 3 hours away.

But you can bring nature into your home.

So, after spending all day being impacted by the traffic sounds around your office block, stressed to your limits, you'll have a peaceful, stress-relieving sanctuary to come home to.

If you're a 9-5er or entrepreneur living in a busy city, you probably can relate. You know how stressed you feel every day.

Stress isn't good. And when it becomes chronic (extending for long periods), stress can cause several things to go wrong: high blood pressure, heart disease, anxiety, depression, and insomnia, even addiction as a coping mechanism.

So, prioritize stress management. Take a break, go on vacations when you can, and have some nature in your home.

If you're currently dealing with severe stress or anxiety that's limiting your life, you can get professional mental health care by speaking with us at Home Mental Health.

We would like to hear from you.

Author

Satu H. Woodland, PMHCNS-BC, APRN Satu Woodland is owner and clinician of Hope Mental Health, an integrative mental health practice located at Bown Crossing in Boise, Idaho. She sees children, adolescents, and adults. Ms. Woodland with her background in nursing, prefers a holistic and integrative approach to mental health care that addresses the mind and body together. While Ms. Woodland provides medication management services in all her patients, she believes in long-lasting solutions that include a number of psychotherapies, namely cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure and response prevention therapy, attention to lifestyle, evidenced based alternative psychiatric care and spirituality. If you’d like to gain control over your mental health issues, call Hope Mental Health at 208-918-0958, or use the online scheduling tool to set up an initial consultation.