noise is a given in our everyday lives. From the moment the alarm clock buzzes or the garbage trucks rouse us,to the time we fall asleep despite the neighbor's stereo , we accommodate noisy intrusions.
Studies suggest that we pay a price for adapting to noise : higher blood pressure, heart rate, and adrenaline secretion-even after the noise stops: heightened aggression ; impaired resistance to disease ; a sense of helplessness. In terms of stress, unpredictability is an important factor. Studies suggest that when we can control noise,its effects are much less damaging.
Although there are no studies on the effects of quiet in repairing the stress of noise, those who have studied the physiological effects of noise believe that quiet provides an escape. Most people who work in a busy and noisy envirnment love quiet and need it desperately.
We are so acclimated to noise that complete quiet is sometime unsettling. You might have trouble sleeping on vacation in the mountains, for example , without the background sounds of traffic. But making the effort to find quiet gives us a chance to hear ourselves think, to become attuned to the world around us, to find peacefulness and clam. It provides a serene antinote to the intrusively loud world we live in the rest of the day.