The Sounds of Melancholy: What makes it so hard to keep the mind quiet?
By Anna Tiara Basa
When we think of noise, it is often the sounds of doors squeaking open, people giggling amongst vague dialogue, and calm elevator music distracting from the smell of coffee breath (and that looming inevitability that is the strep that's being passed around.) These are tangible understandings by which we as a society understand as noise. Of course, the nature of the noise which I was referring to denotes an inherent presence within the background of situations: ambience setting.
We are acquainted to this concept yet do not pay conscious attention into the way it is integrated into our brains. In a study done on White Noise and Sleep Induction at Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Royal Postgraduate Medical School in London, it was found that infants are faster to fall asleep in an environment with white noise as opposed to one with not. The infants who were exposed to the device used to emulate white noise fell asleep threefold in comparison to the control group.
From this, it was likely that the white noise reduced the turbulence of the external environment. Thus, having physiological reactions to ambient noise, we can utilize this knowledge to our own benefit. We can use sound as a vehicle to reduce the discomfort in an environment.
Being creatures that are receptive to noise, we often encounter situations that do not allow for optimal headspace. Perhaps with age we develop a more nuanced and complex relationship to the environments which we traverse and find comfort in. While some may revel in the boisterousness of a hollering, mosh pit, others may languish in such an environment. Hans Eckhardt Schaefer’s current study on music evoked emotions based in neural activity and skin goosebump development further the notion that there is an intrinsic response that human beings have to auditory stimuli. In the same sense: one may find solace in the solitude of a quiet library, while another squirms at the thought of such a heavy silence. Insofar does this point out the non-monolithic nature of humans.
However these are external situations which we may or may not ever be able to remove ourselves from, what about the static in our heads that never quite goes away? The disdain that rings in your head like a bell striking once every hour; a constant tonic note of self-effacement so dissonant its beat frequency disrupts the serenity of the strings that bind it; the colossal tinnitus we call: overthinking. While still a noise altogether, it has been overlooked amongst the obtrusiveness of sounds we physically encounter everyday.
There is something very precarious about the way doubt manifests itself in the our heads. Our problems and their seeming indelibility always lingering in the deepest parts of our minds. Perhaps this is the plight of the self-aware, but so to the extent that it blinds us. Swept away by thoughts on a slippery slope, we do not allow ourselves to contextualize our concerns, only focusing on the unfavorable consequences of the situation. Because, of course, our friends are always mad at us for little minutia we do to annoy them or our parents are disappointed that we aren’t exactly what they wanted, or hey, my professor dislikes me because I left lecture two minutes earlier than when she released me, isn’t that much obvious?
It is here, when we ourselves must begin to dilute the sounds that drown us. If no one else can feel it, is it really there? Yes. Yes, it is. In fact, it is so present that it manifests itself in our daily moods, predispositions, and outlooks. To maintain our relationship with others, and especially with ourselves, we must be resilient to over-analysis of situations. Practicing mindfulness, controlled breathing, and meditation can often clear our minds from troubling thoughts. Decompressing ourselves from the fast-paced lifestyle of the 21st century is an obstacle that continues to eat us alive. But with clarity and understanding of the weights of our situations, we can overcome. We cannot lament on what we cannot control, and thus we must live in the present.
But maybe mindfulness does not help to quell the external intensity of your overthinking. Maybe the background noise is too loud to dissect alone: this is okay. Maybe speaking with a therapist can reduce the intensity of the noise interference of your brain. There is no singular answer to subduing the internal clanging of the human mind.
This is not meant to be a panacea to those who are significantly burdened by overthinking but rather here to offer perspective and reassurance that these thoughts happen. They hold tactile significance but be not worn down by their existence, be resistant to their disruptiveness. While we cannot fathom to control the infinite playlists worth of noises present around us, we maintain control of what we do and do not tune into.