We’ve all experienced the headache of being stuck in traffic. Whether you’re commuting to work or trying to avoid being late for an appointment, gridlock-driven delays tend to be stressful. New research from the U.K., however, suggests simply hearing the din of traffic may be detrimental to your mental health.
Road traffic creates noise pollution that has proven a global health hazard in our increasingly industrialized world. Existing research has tied it to everything from sleep disturbances and decreased work performance, to high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. Now scientists at the University of the West of England in Bristol, U.K., have identified an association between such man-made sounds and increased stress and anxiety. What’s more, they showed that traffic noise stifles the calming, pleasing effects of nature sounds. Their findings were published Nov. 27 in the journal PLOS One.
