5 ms·

I haven't read the underlying studies but I wonder if this applies to consistent noise or just intermittent sounds, like the airplanes and railway line examples

I haven't read the underlying studies but I wonder if this applies to consistent noise or just intermittent sounds, like the airplanes and railway line examples they focus on. Personally I can't sleep in a quiet room, so I put on white noise generator plus usually music or podcasts. I find that subjectively I sleep better with some relaxing sounds. However, it could be possible that my brain isn't properly turning off and I'm just unaware of it. Their possible explanation is that the brain is waking up to process whether a sound is dangerous, which makes sense for intermittent sounds, but you would imagine we're adapted to sleep properly in the presence of semi-intermittent/constant sounds which would be normal in nature.

wildrhythms 5y ago
I bought an "acoustic white noise generator" which is effectively just a small fan in an overlapping enclosure that you can rotate to find a pleasant tone, and it has been a game-changer for my sleep.
Gigachad 5y ago
I don’t find that I am bothered by constant noises. I have an air purifier in my room and find the constant fan noise to be not disruptive at all. It probably even drowns out the outside noises a little.
powersnail 5y ago
I think it depends on how loud the noise is. I live in an apartment where 2 out of 5 days, someone steam wash their carpet, which means a van would park outside the building, making a loud, constant, humming noise for an hour. I can't nap to it; I can't work with it; it's as disruptive as leaf blowers and explosive-driven motorcycles. At some volume, we just don't adapt to it anymore.
- cameronh90 5y ago
  I'm not sure where you live but I found when I traveled to the USA, I was appalled at the level of noise disturbances you put up with. For reference, I live on one of the busiest roads in London, so I'm not particularly noise sensitive. But in the USA, it was just constant sound everywhere I went. Cars honking when unlocked, multiple sirens within earshot most of the time I was in any large city, people leaving their cars to "warm up" on their driveway, leaf blowers, shouting. It's constant, all hours of the night. In London, we still very much aren't a 24/7 city. At around 11pm the traffic really dies off and most people are on their way to bed. You still get the odd lorry or ambulance, but even ambulances don't run their siren unless necessary.
_ink_ 5y ago
I can't stand constant noises. They are driving me nuts. It also does not matter much how loud these really are. As long as they are audible in a otherwise quiet environment it is like somebody is constanly screaming at me. I can only sleep with audiobooks, otherwise I cannot fall asleep because the constant noise of the radiator. Probably that is not normal, though.
globular-toast 5y ago
I thought I couldn't sleep in a quiet room. Then I moved somewhere that is actually completely quiet at night. It turns out I can sleep very well. I just never had a completely quiet room up until this point. White noise was the only option to drown out the intermittent sounds (mostly cars) throughout the night.
- cameronh90 5y ago
  For me, if I go on holiday into the countryside, I basically can't sleep unless I put something on. I can hear all my random body noises, creaks, leaves, whatever else. Obviously that isn't complete silence, but apparently complete silence (as in, an anechoic chamber) is a horrible experience.

wildrhythms 5y ago

I bought an "acoustic white noise generator" which is effectively just a small fan in an overlapping enclosure that you can rotate to find a pleasant tone, and it has been a game-changer for my sleep.

Gigachad 5y ago

I don’t find that I am bothered by constant noises. I have an air purifier in my room and find the constant fan noise to be not disruptive at all. It probably even drowns out the outside noises a little.

powersnail 5y ago

I think it depends on how loud the noise is. I live in an apartment where 2 out of 5 days, someone steam wash their carpet, which means a van would park outside the building, making a loud, constant, humming noise for an hour. I can't nap to it; I can't work with it; it's as disruptive as leaf blowers and explosive-driven motorcycles. At some volume, we just don't adapt to it anymore.

cameronh90 5y ago
I'm not sure where you live but I found when I traveled to the USA, I was appalled at the level of noise disturbances you put up with. For reference, I live on one of the busiest roads in London, so I'm not particularly noise sensitive. But in the USA, it was just constant sound everywhere I went. Cars honking when unlocked, multiple sirens within earshot most of the time I was in any large city, people leaving their cars to "warm up" on their driveway, leaf blowers, shouting. It's constant, all hours of the night. In London, we still very much aren't a 24/7 city. At around 11pm the traffic really dies off and most people are on their way to bed. You still get the odd lorry or ambulance, but even ambulances don't run their siren unless necessary.

_ink_ 5y ago

I can't stand constant noises. They are driving me nuts. It also does not matter much how loud these really are. As long as they are audible in a otherwise quiet environment it is like somebody is constanly screaming at me. I can only sleep with audiobooks, otherwise I cannot fall asleep because the constant noise of the radiator. Probably that is not normal, though.

globular-toast 5y ago

I thought I couldn't sleep in a quiet room. Then I moved somewhere that is actually completely quiet at night. It turns out I can sleep very well. I just never had a completely quiet room up until this point. White noise was the only option to drown out the intermittent sounds (mostly cars) throughout the night.

cameronh90 5y ago
For me, if I go on holiday into the countryside, I basically can't sleep unless I put something on. I can hear all my random body noises, creaks, leaves, whatever else. Obviously that isn't complete silence, but apparently complete silence (as in, an anechoic chamber) is a horrible experience.