Can sound affect your mood?

If you’ve ever been in a noisy environment you might have noticed that you began to feel overwhelmed or stressed. Sound can impact how you feel in both positive and negative ways. So how does this work? How does sound affect your mood?

How sound affects your mood

Every room you enter or outdoor space you walk through will have unique acoustics. No matter where you are, whether you’re at home, in a busy office, or in the middle of an open public space, your ears will pick up different sound frequencies that are then processed by your brain.

Sounds, including people’s voices, computers and other devices whirring, birds chirping, and the noise of the wind rushing past your ear, are all unique sounds that contribute to the acoustics of your surrounding environment. Aural architecture affects the sounds you hear within an environment. This refers to the sounds in a building or enclosed space and how sounds echo within these spaces and affect what you hear.

Sounds can add to the overall atmosphere of a place. These sounds can enhance or disrupt the environment and contribute to either a peaceful mindset or a stressful one. For example, hearing a fire alarm is anything but relaxing and will cause you to feel anxious and stressed. Hearing meditative music can have the opposite effect on your mood, enabling you to feel calmer and more relaxed.

Take the time to identify sounds that cause feelings of stress and those that promote feelings of relaxation. Try to minimize ‘noise pollution’. These are intrusive sounds (for example, noise from a construction site) that may make you feel uncomfortable or even angry. Try to incorporate pleasurable sounds to support mental health, for example, playing your favorite music. Music can stimulate your limbic system (part of your brain that helps process emotions) and can cause the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that promotes feelings of pleasure and wellbeing.