When it started storming tonight, I grabbed my laptop and immediately sat right by the open window. I’ve always loved the sound of rain; I’m the sort of person who goes and sits outside on the porch during a thunderstorm just to relax. But why does the sound of rain and other white noise help me and so many other people to relax and to sleep better? Before I even started researching this, I inferred that it’s because white noise reminds us of certain atmospheres that we find relaxing. For example, laying on the beach in the early morning listening to the waves crashing and the seagulls chirping. Or, people watching at an outside cafe where all the sounds of traffic and people eating and talking meld into one. I’m feeling relaxed just thinking about it. However, it’s difficult to say that white noise helps all people relax and sleep better. There are too many variations in people’s preferences and how their mind reacts to things to prove that white noise is good for all.

I listen to white noise (rain, waves, campfires, etc.) a lot, and I think some of the main reasons white noise relaxes include the following:

1. It blocks out all other noises around us if we have it loud enough. That way, if we’re trying to sleep, no other sudden noises will jerk us back to consciousness.
2. It’s extremely easy to become used to the sounds playing in our ears when they play at constant levels, so we have it blocking out noise but not distracting us.
3. It also definitely still keeps us engaged even if we’re sleeping, which is something our brains need.
4. I’m hoping to find out some other reasons why white noise effects us the way it does.

White noise, in terms of audio, is all the different frequencies of sound that we’re able to hear combined into one. The white noise that we talk is what happens when all the frequencies that humans can hear and perceive are played together at similar levels. The white noise we hear is the sound of all the frequencies between 20 and 20,000 HZ. Basically this means that we’re hearing around 20,000 tones at once. That’s sort of like when we’re standing in the middle of New York City surrounded by 20,000 different noises combined into one. The traffic, the honking, the yelling, the construction, the talking, all mix together to form one constant tone, from which we can’t easily distinguish separate sounds.

According to the same article as above, white noise (and pink noise, and brown noise, but let’s not get into those) does in fact help us to sleep by masking the unwanted noises in our surroundings like I had said at the start! Another theory that mentions the same thing I had said is that our brains are highly active when we sleep, and playing white noise keeps our minds stimulated. Now for some people, pure white noise by itself is not enough to find relaxation. So of course there’s nature’s white noise for us to listen to. Forest sounds, ocean waves, campfires, and more are all examples of white noise also. This article also gives quite a few of the same reasons for why white noise helps us to sleep.

However, while white noise can be a fantastic thing to listen to for some people, others believe that it may harm our concentration. In this article, Mark Andrews talks about how stress from repeatedly playing white noise releases cortisol, which is a hormone that helps restore the body to homeostasis. But, an excess in cortisol damages functions in part of the brain that helps to regulate planning, reasoning, and impulse control.

This is why it’s so difficult to form and prove a hypothesis on something like this, because the effectiveness of white noise differs from person to person. Doing a sample test with a hypothesis like “White noise does help people get a better sleep at night” would be hard to do simply because of all the variables. The sample may end up having more people who are less inclined to enjoy white noise playing in their ears. Or, it may have a bunch of people with higher stress or anxiety levels than others, which would definitely affect the results of the experiment.

I, personally, will continue to listen to white noise. It really does help me to relax, it makes me happier, and it blocks out the constant noise that comes from living with four roommates. However, if you believe that white noise is not something that will help you, I’m sure there are dozens of other things out there that can help you concentrate, relax, or sleep almost as well. Sweet dreams!

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