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Based on research conducted by the National Sleep Foundation in 2011, Generation Y (born in the 1980s to the late 1990s) has more trouble falling asleep than previous generations. In fact, another study by a team of experts from the University of Warwick Medical School in the UK estimates that currently there are around 150 million people in the world who experience sleep problems.
Research conducted by the American Psychological Association states that generation Y, who has an age range of 18-33 years, experience higher stress than the previous generation.
More than 50 percent of study subjects reported staying awake at night because of anxiety caused by various problems. Starting from exams, the cost of continuing to college, looking for a job, moving to a new place, getting married, and building a family becomes a burden on the mind that bogs down every night and keeps the brain from turning around.
During sleep, humans still receive sounds that are processed in a part of the brain called the auditory cortex. A person's sensitivity to sound varies depending on the brain waves produced when we sleep. Some sounds may be perceived as annoying and others may be perceived as soothing.
However, it is not easy to find out whether a certain sound is disturbing or soothing to someone.
Why can the sound of rain help us sleep better?
Our brain defines the various types of sounds we hear when waking up or when we are asleep to be something that is dangerous or not. Some sounds such as screams or very loud alarm sounds cannot be ignored, but certain sounds such as the sound of the wind blowing or the sound of the waves crashing can be ignored.
Sounds that have high volume tend to be more difficult to ignore, but what is more important is about the character of the sounds we hear whether they can stimulate our brains to activate hazard sensors so that they wake us from sleep or not.
The sound of rain, although sometimes it sounds quite loud, is classified as a non-threatening sound so that the sound of rain can muffle other sounds that can keep us awake, for example the sound of passing vehicles. Rain sound characteristics enter as one of a kind white noise , that is, a constant sound.
What is white noise?
White noise is an audible sound with a frequency between 20 and 20,000 Hertz (Hz) and has the same amplitude and intensity. One of a kind white noise What we can actually find is a sound that sounds like a radio or television static wave, but that type of sound is very uncomfortable to listen to. Several types white noise others can be:
- Nature sounds such as the sound of rain, crashing waves, the sound of crickets, the sound of the wind blowing in the forest, etc.
- Machine noises, for example the sound of the air conditioner (AC) or fan or the sound of the washing machine.
Most people prefer to listen to these voices rather than listen to them white noise purely because it sounds more comfortable.