"Like clockwork, every night around 10 PM, I reach for my phone and open my white noise app. The familiar whoosh of ocean waves or steady hum of a fan fills my bedroom, and only then can I finally drift off to sleep. For years, I thought this was just a quirky habit I'd developed during college. But recently, I discovered there's actually fascinating psychology behind why some of us literally cannot fall asleep in complete silence."
"When I first learned about hypervigilance in therapy, something clicked. People who need background noise to sleep often have brains that are constantly scanning for potential threats or changes in their environment. In the silence, every little creak of the house or distant car becomes amplified. Dr. Jeffrey Ellenbogen, a neurologist and Director of The Sound Sleep Project, explains it perfectly: "Our brains are keyed in to attend specifically to sharp changes in the environment because those are the threats.""
Millions of people rely on fans, air conditioners, white noise apps, and sound machines to fall asleep. The need for background noise often reflects a hypervigilant nervous system that continuously scans for sharp changes and potential threats. In silence, ordinary household sounds such as creaks, distant cars, or a partner shifting become amplified and trigger alertness, preventing relaxation and sleep. Hypervigilance can promote daytime advantages like heightened awareness and quick detection of problems, but it becomes exhausting at night. Steady background noise masks intermittent sounds, lowers perceived threat salience, and allows the brain to relax into restorative sleep.
Read at Silicon Canals
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