Can Soundwaves Calm Your Anxiety?

Meet your new calming companion: binaural beats

Image with Dall-E

Let’s dive into a scenario that hits (too) close to home for so many of us today.

Sarah is a mid-30s professional juggling a demanding job, a social life, and all the “extras” in between. Sarah feels her anxiety as a constant annoying low buzz. It’s like background music she can’t turn off.

Mornings start with a sense of dread about the day, her heart races during her commute, and by mid-morning, she’s dealing with a nagging headache and a heavy feeling in her chest. Sleep? Rarely restful, thanks to an endless mental checklist that keeps her tossing and turning.

Talking about audio waves helping her calm down might feel skeptical, but also intriguing. Is there a specific sound frequency that can calm that endless mental chatter?

Sound therapy with a twist

Here’s what the science says.

A team from Transylvania University wanted to see if binaural beats can lower anxiety and depression noninvasively and cheaply.

These beats are two slightly different frequencies pumped into each ear, but the brain perceives them as a single note.