How Color, Light and Noise Affects Stress Levels

Noses, eyes, and ears are very sensitive sense organs. Elements like noises, lighting and colors are always influencing and engaging your senses. They can either work in favor of you by playing the role of a stress reducer or pressure releaser or they may work against you by producing more stress.

(a) How Lighting Affects Stress

The type of lighting where you live, where you work, and where you relax, plays a vital role in strain and stress. Try to use warm-hued bulb colors instead of a cool blue tint which could create stress. Those who are suffering from migraines should strictly prohibit the use of fluorescent tube light. It is thought that the rapid flickering is stressful on the eyes and might trigger a migraine. Use incandescent bulbs instead of fluorescent tube lighting if you can change it.

Using the computer monitor or watching a television also gives one concern for the connection between light and stress. It is best to not put a monitor in front of windows as the strong glow will irritate the eyesight nor in front of any interior light which creates a reflection. Tightening of neck and head muscles will change the path of blood flow. So avoid squinting as much as possible. Rest your eyes as often as possible when you are working. If you work at a computer monitor, pause often and focus your eyes on objects far away and then close up to prevent your eyes from becoming strained which can lead to headaches and eye pain.

(b) How Color Affects Stress

Revolutionary work has been done by researchers on the psychology of color. Some colors are known to be calming in nature and others create discord and stress. Therefore it can be helpful for you to do research into this area when you plan to repaint or decorate your home or office space. Even a neutral pure white space will be far more relaxing than an aggressive red or patterned decor.

(c) How Noise Affects Stress

A noisy surrounding will probably create an environment full of stress. It will not only affect your ears but also your heart beat will escalate. It will definitely change your mood; also reduce your hearing capacity and lack of concentration. On an average, the maximum level of comfortable noise is 70 decibels. Not only loud noise but also the background noise plays a role in affecting the stress level. Low-frequency buzzing of a computer, an air conditioner and also the fluorescent tube light can be the source of an irritating noise. It is pretty obvious that irritating noises, harsh lighting and loud colors and patterns can increase the stress levels. So it is best to avoid these elements as much as possible for prolonged periods of time. To further reduce stress level, one can decorate your living and working space with calming colors and relaxing sounds.