City Noises Responsible for Modem 'Nerves'

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 744, 17 August 1929, Page 20

City Noises Responsible for Modem ' Nerves '

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FEW months ago a New York antique dealer, awoke on a Sunday morning to find a note from his wife stating that she intended com-

mitting suicide. Seven floors below their apartment nil day and night the crazy noise of the surface cars and other traffic soared upward into their otherwise cosy home. In the note she told her husband that she could not stand the eternal clanging of these cars any longer. That morning the milkman found her body in the courtyard of the building seven floors below an open window. In her hands she was still clutching a recent photograph of her husband. A tragic victim of urban noises!

Practically every city dweller is an tin witting victim of the noises of his city. Many country dwellers are also paying a price for noise, especially those living near traffic arteries. People are struggling along trying to ignore the handicap of noise, and extreme protests such as that made by the_ antiquary's wife are uncommon. Not a week passes, however, writes a distinguished medical man. but I receive a few letters from people who are protesting against noise.

How does noise affect people? Thomas A. Edison is of the opinion that the noises of civilisation may induce an almost universal deafness. This is possible only if noises are increased to tremendous extent, and with the present agitation against noise it is doubtful if widespread deafness will ever occur. But there remains a more insidious effect of noise which strikes at almost' every vital tissue.

One point upon which psychologists are agreed is that noises of the right sort are a natural cause, or stimulus, to the fear reaction. It is conceivable that if present city noises are to continue for another generation or two a typical personality may emerge from their effects—a driving, restless,

apprehensive, nervous personality, one distinctly unhealthy and undesirable, yet apparently inevitable unless the situation is promptly remedied. On the bodily side we can see what is ahead more graphically. The fear reaction paralyses the involuntary muscles of the stcmach and intestines. It speeds up the heart and alters blood pressure. It increases the tonus, or tension, of the voluntary muscles. Whether the subject is awake or asleep, these changes can be observed. In my laboratory, for instance, we have seen time after time a sleeper’s blood pressure raised when a truck passes the old house used as the laboratory. Our delicate instruments have also registered increases in the muscular tension of the sleepers from such a common noise as another sleeper in the bedroom coughing.

All these changes, like those in personality traits, are of the sort of which the individual is uot directly aware. Rather than lessening their damaging effects, this very fact increases them.

So when someone tells me that he has grown accustomed to noise and does not notice it any more, I have to answer: “But your body has not got used to it and your personality make-up shows many signs which indicate you have not got used to it.” The brain itself determines whether or not we lav attention to a noise or notice it. So we can ignore a noise, through preoccupation or interest in something else, but our spinal cord and brain stem will still respond to the noise with the old fear reaction of -which we are not considerably aware. Merely not noticing a noise does not mean that our body is not responding to it with a long-continued fear reaction which may become serious over a long period of time. Many people are moving into the I quiet suburbs, gladly spending an hour or more a day on the railroads if only 1 they can be assured of a quiet place i in which to sleep.

Running away from danger and annoyance in this fashion does not help the great bulk of mankind, however. Most of us cannot afford the ■expense.

When selecting a new home or new office, the noise of the location as well as the appearance of the place should be carefully studied. It is wise to observe the noise of the location at different times for several days, since there may be a certain hour during which it is especially noisy. The house itself should be well built; poorly built houses transmit noises as a sieve passes water. The windows should fit tightly to help keep outside noises outside. The principal secret, however, in providing restful quiet in workplaces and homes is to have generous amounts of noise-absorbing materials. Rugs are excellent noise-absorbers. Furniture upholstered in velour, plush or mohair will add still more absorption. Tapestries and rug-like wall decorations also help. The greatest boon for the ordinary person, in addition to using all the noise-absorbing materials he can, is to know how to relax thoroughly once or twice a day and stay relaxed for a few minutes resting overtensed muscles.