Birdsong and Mental Health

It has recently been proven that birdsongs improve mental health and cognitive thinking compared to listening to traffic noises. An experiment was done with 295 participants, according to NeuroscienceNews, where "they hear six minutes of traffic noises or birdsongs with different variations and after that perform cognitive tests." It is known that birdsong has an influence on positive moods. "What is new is that it has an influence on paranoid states like anxiety disorders or paranoia." It can reduce anxiety since birdsongs are linked to the natural environment. The improvement of physical and mental well-being from everyday exposure to nature is an even more obvious link between the environment and health. The fact that most people love being around nature and natural landscapes show that certain natural occurrences may provide harmony to society and be beneficial to mental health. "It is still under investigation what type of senses (sound, color vision, etc.) contribute to the effects of a decrease in anxiety."

During the experiment, as distracting as it is, there was an increase in depression among participants who listen to traffic noises. And there was also a decrease in depression and lowered anxiety and paranoia in participants who listen to different birdsongs. Cognition, however, had no differences on either side. "The findings produced interesting outcomes for further study, including actively modifying soundscapes in various situations, such as psychiatric facilities, hospitals, or different residential environments, and examining their impact on signs of anxiety and paranoia."

Another lab that dwells on the same topic is from TechnologyNetworks stated researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and the Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) announced birdsong reduces anxiety and irrational thoughts.

Mental health is a continuously increasing problem that affects many teens and young adults. With social media on the rise, the young generation gets more and more fixated on how they appear to others that were influenced by influencers and celebrities. And more social media comes with more personal problems. Just being outside on the nonartificial side of the world has already been proven to improve health. It is free therapeutic medicine for everyone. Exercising like jogging and biking, yoga, and meditation can reduce stress, improve mood and self-esteem, is mental relief, and can have some physical effects too. Just being outside can calm one's nerves.

References

https://www.technologynetworks.com/neuroscience/news/birdsongs-effects-on-mental-health-revealed-366572

https://neurosciencenews.com/birdsong-mental-health-21639/