White Noise Helps with Concentration in ADD/ADHD
ByAs a child psychiatrist, I know that most teens with ADD or ADHD do their best school work while listening to their music.
I often have to convince parents and teachers to allow their ADD/ADHD kids and students the privelage of listening to music while they work.
Now, there is a study which has proven that this is the case. Well, it has actually proven that ‘white noise‘ in the background can increase the concentration for people with ADD or ADHD.
What is your experience?
Does white noise, or music help you to pay attention?
Please share your experiences by typing them into the comments box below.
Dr. Kenny
I have always found that white noise helps me concentrate. I also use this to sleep.
Yes, it definitely helps. I sleep better with a white noise machine, and am more effective when I write with classical music. If nothing else, it helps to distract the parts of my brain that usually drive my conscious thoughts off track.
In my experience, music with words is counterproductive when I really need to concentrate. Also, any obvious patterns in the white noise make it ineffective because the pattern becomes the focus.
Absolutely helps. I’m at my computer programming away and I have a set of headphones on with some music going.
YES!! I can’t work in total silence–I become very unfocused. My brother, sister, father and I all need the TV on to sleep. Drives spouses crazy, but is symptom of our adhd chemistry.
I love white metal but i find it destroys my concentration and takes me much longer to get my work done. to me this sounds completely absurd.
My son MUST have some sort of noise for him to get to sleep. It has been a fan, the air conditioner and is usually his current favorite group on a playlist that repeat ALL night on his laptop.
I find some background noise helps. An interesting song can hamper my working.
This is SO true for me. It took me until law school to figure this out and now I try to spread the word since it is so beneficial for me to have ‘white noise’ while I study. I’ve received a lot of resistance to accepting my theory because people think it is illogical for someone with inattention and focus problems to study better in a ‘distracting’ environment. But it works!!! I’ve found that the very best environment for me to study in is at a coffee house during its busiest hours (lots of talking, coffee making, music, etc…) but it won’t work during slow hours because I will pick up on specific conversations and words in the music. Also, I must have a fan on when I sleep.
I agree….I have a very hard time getting to sleep unless there is some white noise in the background…..I just turn on a box fan, with it pointed in the opposite direction. If I’m trying to study….music with words will distract me…but instrumental music seems to help.
Dr.
We are 10 years old and just did a science fair project where students were given 3 math tests
test 1 – completely quiet room
test 2 ACDC DVD at 115dBs
test 3 Enya CD at 30dB’s
9 of 10 kids did better with ACDC vs quiet
10 of 10 kids did better with Enya
Thought youd like to know
Hello all……I can say with surety that music is the MOST helpful instrument in the world. I am, like Kim a Law student. I have found that with all the hours of studying and reading I encounter in a day, music is the most satisfying thing to help me cope with any sort of frustration. I utilize Sirius satellite radio and with the abundant amount of channels on there, I am just a click away from hearing anything that may interest me. ADD is a very frustrating thing to live with. We as a group must not let outsiders who know nothing about our disability (Ability and a gift) to convince us of what works for them. They (Non-Adders) will never know what a struggle it can be for us to deal with traditional methods which we sometimes struggle with. Keep up the good work my friends, our intelligence is something we must share….Dan
i like the voice from history chanel. but i cant sleep w/partner because he makes sounds all night. whats up w/ that?
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Yes, it helps, especially classical music because lyrics can be distracting. When “hyperfocusing” however, I prefer total silence.
Does white noise help in concentration with ADHD? Absolutely!
As a college student I discovered that the best place for me to study was the laundry room because the white noise from the washers and dryers helped me focus. And get this: I didn’t even know I had ADHD at the time, it wasn’t until 7 years later that I was diagnosed, but even then I knew that there was something about the white noise of the laundry room that was conducive to concentration.
Today, I work as a cognitive therapist in a major medical center and have lots of documentation to keep up with everyday. As an adult with ADHD, I found that the best way for me to focus at work is to turn on a sound machine or listen to an ocean waves CD in my office when I write reports.
So, I would give a resounding YES to the question of whether or not white noise helps with concentration.
Yes it does help me, when I have no music and work it doesn’t feel right and I don’t focus as well.
I am a psychiatrist and I think I have ADHD,never bee treated or diagnosed,it s my self diagnosis,but it gives me a lot of troble b/c a lot of times I canot concentrate and therefore am not able to focus and register in my mind of what the pt said which really affects me negatively.I do love music and has been listening it all my life since childhood,it was the first thing i used to do on waking up,putting my music on and i still like to have music on whenever i get a chance.
I was one of those who had to listen to music while doing my homework or studying during my student days, but I never thought that it could be ADD or ADHD. The music helped me concentrate and be more productive, in my opinion. However, ADD or ADHD are much more serious conditions, I thought.
My 17 year old ADHD son and I are having quite a debate.
He is insistent that driving with his IPOD on and earphones helps him concentrate while driving.
I’m not convinced. He’s missing stop signs or not remembering where he is.
He has a tendency to do that without music though. (thus why, after two years on a permit, we still haven’t let him get his license)
I do know that his mind works in a very different format and perhaps he has a point.
Common sense tells me that the distraction of listening to music through an IPOD is not a good practice.
I have learned so much on this journey of raising an ADHD wonder to almost adulthood. I have learned, if nothing else, that common sense is not always the answer in figuring out this unique mind.
Is there any research on listening to rock music while driving as a help to ADHD teens?
Hi,
I don’t know of research on driving and iPods…
There is research on driving and ADHD – and the importance of medication.
I refer you to this interview:
http://www.adhd.tv/adhd-and-driving-adhd-tv-episode-4/
I wish I would have figured all this out when I was younger. I would have been able to actually read a paragraph once instead of over and over. I find that I have to have music on, but it much more effective if I have headsets on than just in the room. I don’t understand that. It seems that if it is just in the room it is more of a distraction than if it is through a headset . TV really helps me too. I don’t have to watch it, just need the noise, I also sleep with a fan on.
I do alot of work that I’m not present for. I go back and look at it and it was done correctly. And I drive a lot of places that I don’t know how I got there. I’d be rich if someone paid me a penny for my thoughts!
I have two teenagers who both have ADD and were diagnosed at a very young age. I work for a hearing protection and enhancement online store and we sell white noise and I never knew that this could be an option for ADD. I actually thought quite the opposite. It certainly does explain a lot of things. My daughter has an iPod and uses it all day long while she’s not in class and when she sleeps at night she has the television on, usually a music station. I always thought she was being difficult and defiant because I always told her to turn it off because it was distracting. I’m considering asking her school to allow her to use her iPod during study time so that her grades could possibly improve because at this point she’s about a low B to C student. If anyone is interested in white noise, our web site is http://www.earplugstore.com
Noise (TV on, radio, cd) can be very helpful for studying, doing work, etc. One concern about wearing headphones while driving, in some states that is illegal for a driver to be wearing headphones or any other device that would prevent them from hearing honking, sirens, trains, etc.
i was tested almost as soon as i started school for adhd, and the doctors said i didn’t have it. but completely by accident i came across a list of symptoms (age 12) and i match them completely. i cannot focus in silence because my brain gets bored and starts thinking about everything thats not what im meant to be doing. i cannot focus with music on, because my brain starts listening and thinking about the song (even when theres on lyrics) but with white noise theres something to stop me having to find something to do, but nothing there for me to actually think about.
sorry if this is all a load of incomprihensible rubbish. when i write i just pour the thoughts which i think are to do with the topic onto the paper, so it all comes out in very long sentences with no breaks.
Wolfie R
Middle aged turrets (mild) along with many associated items; Dsylexia, ADD/ADHD, etc. and when I write software or any other creative thing and am really in the flow, then I will always be listening to music, normally tapping my feet along with it and even singing (while typing), the music definitely helps to keep all the other parts of my brain busy so they do not get in the way.
As for sleep I have not found the best thing to turn my brain off, will try some of the things others have mentioned as I see a lot of similarity there.
Some folks mentioned listening to music and that helps me big time at work. Enya was mentioned, one of my favorites, but another good one is Enigma. It is kind of electronic meditation music but also great to get to sleep to.
My sister has suffered with ADD for years. However, she found that white noise helps her concentrate much better, such as a fan sound running in the background.
Rather than run her fan all the time, she found an assortment of white noise sounds at http://www.purewhitenoise.com. Their white noise CDs and downloads also help her go to sleep, which I understand is another benefit of white noise, yet a good excuse not to play white noise while driving.
For me, it depends. Sometimes white noise, the constant, droning hum masks the chatter, crashes and shouts of the residence hall. But sometimes that constant humming gets on my nerves, distracts me more from my homework and makes it difficult to concentrate, even though it masks other noises. I can’t listen to music or watch tv, because my mind gets too distracted (might be because I love to write and I’m an avid daydreamer) and I’m either watching/listening to that media, or I beginning imaging different stories/scenarios.
Hope that helps.
I have ADHD and I’ve noticed that when I’m listening to music.
I seem to doo my work, and even stay in the seat for many hours.
Without it. I’m unable to work, and I end up paying attention to my classmate talking and such. Often I leave to the class room more than once to walk around for ten minutes.
Almost everyone thinks I’m just making up excues and not wanting to pay attention to the work.
Which isn’t true. I just can’t pay attention to the work without music, even right now I’m listening to muisc while typing this. Should I talk to someone in my school that can allow me to listen to my music? Or should I just do my best without it?
I cannot focus at work AT ALL without something on in my ears. I prefer talk radio turned down low. Im not sure if I listen to it much but I cant do hardly any work without it.
I just accidentally re-discovered how music in the background helps keep me on-track. I’ve struggled these past few years with getting work done. The other day, I made a Pandora radio station with Christmas music. I kept it on while I was on a teleconference that I had to listen to but not speak. I was able to pay attention to the whole thing! Hurray!
I suppose the background noise thing explains why I fall asleep faster when the TV is watching me than when it’s dark and quiet.
I think the reason most people prefer to study with white noise/music instead of in silence is because there never really is “silence”…in a “silent” environment small random noises can distract your mind much easier.
Is there some research supporting the listening of music in class for children with ADHD? If so, could you lead me there please? Thanks!
Cathy – I don’t know of any actual studies – just what experience has shown me and what people with ADD/ADHD tell me.
Best,
Dr. Kenny
I’m doing a research project on the effects of noise on concentration does anyone know of any current research on the topic?
Many Thanks
I noticed years ago that I concentrated better in front of the television or listening to music- somehow it kept my mind from wandering to outside activiites or noises. Of course convincing a parent 35 years ago that I could do my homework with noise or tele, was impossible.
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