Basic HTML Version
can have a profound effect on o ne's
mood.
John Ott. presiden! o f Health and
Light Resea rch, lnc.. in Sa rasota,
Florida, has fo und t ha t if a rtificia l
light deviates even slightly from
sunlight, the effects can be devas–
ta ting. He blames s tanda rd cool
white flu o rescent lights (which lack
ultrav io let. blue, a nd red waves
found in sunlight a nd which also
emit X rays and rad io waves as
background radia tio n) fo r tri ggering
hype ractivity in vulne ra ble schoo l
ch ildren. He a lso found tha t p ink
flu orescent lighting can ca use emo–
tio na l ins tability. One St. Pe te rsbu rg
radio s ta tio n that ins ta lled this type
of lig hting soon discovered th at
wo rkers were exhibiting irritab ility,
behaving poorly on the jo b, o ppos–
ing ma nagement decisio ns, a nd re–
sign ing wit hou t expla na ti on. Whe n
th e pi nk bulbs were removed , thi ngs
relurned to norma l.
Ott a lso observed tha t
" ma te rats, m ice and rab–
bits kept unde r fluorescent
lights tended to be irritable
and c a nni ba l ized th e i r
yo ung . Those placed in Lh e
p resence o f nat ura l sunlight
o r unde r flu orescent lights
conta ining long ultravio le t
waves we rc docile, fr iend ly
and helped care fo r their
young" (Joan Arehart-Tre i–
che l, "Thc Good, Hea lthy
Shini ng Light,"
Human Be–
havi o r.
J a n uary 19 75 .
p.
20).
NOI SE.
O ne of the wo rs t
h ea lth haza r d s - both
phys ica l and men ta l - is
no ise. Not jus t loud no ises
that shock t he sys tem. ei–
th e r, but evc ryday leve ls of
no ise at home a nd at wo rk.
Robe rt Alex Ba ro n exp la ins
how this occu rs : " No ise, a t
even modc ra te lcvels. [orces
a sys temic response from
th e to ta l o rganism. l t is not
o nly the sense o f hear ing
that is involved . Wha t is a lso in–
vo lved is wha t ha ppens aft e r the
. b rain receives th e sound signa l. T he
brain pl aces the body on a wa r
foo ti ng . [This occurs
eve1y time
th e
body is subj ec ted to no ise above a
ce rta in leve l.] Th e re pe titio n of these
a le rt s is ex ha us t ing . l t d eple te:-.
10
energy levels; it ca n cause cha nges
in th e chemist ry o f th e blood , in the
volume of th e blood c ircu la tio n ; it
places a stra in on the hea rt ; it pre–
vents restora tive sleep a nd res t; it
hinders conva lescence ; it can be a
fo rm of to rture . 1t ca n so weake n the
body's d e fense mecha nisms tha t d is–
eases can mo re readily take ho ld .
"Thc o rgan ism does no t ad a pt to
noise; it becomes enured and pays a
pri ce. The pr ice of this ' adapta tion ·
is in itse lf a haza rd to hea lth"
(The
Ty ranny of Noise,
Ha rper Colopho n
Books, New York, 1970, p. 85).
As Baron sta ted. noise preven ts
sleep, and even low- leve l no ise can
profoundly inftuence th e q ua li ty o f
sleep. Dr. H. R. Richter, a Swiss
m ed ica ! r esea rche r , found th a t
" s leep depr iva tion leads to psychic
a lte rat io ns, as irri ta bil ity, tircdness.
delirio us an d even pa rano ic sta tes
. .. mos t p robab ly th e lack o f
dreams ta te i the ma in fa cto r for
thcse psychic a bno rma li ties"
( ihid. .
p.
60) .
And scien ti s ts suspect tha t the
s tress gene ra ted by u rban man 's
cons ta nt ex posure
to
noisc may be
the cause o f a grea t dcal o f menta l
il lness . lt i, pro babl e tha t pa rt o f the
tens io n fo und in the inner city is
due to no ise-re lated sleep inte r–
ru p tion a nd resul ting insomnia and
ins tabi lity .
But t od ay 's c ity or su burba n
dweller has more tha n j ust a few
physical pollutan ts to cope wit h. He
a lso has to fight a whole hos t of
psych olog ica l p ressures bro ught on
p r imari ly by the way o ur envi ron–
me nt is st ructu red.
PSY C H OLOGICAL
P R ES–
S UR ES.
F irs t of all. overcrowd ing
cx acts its toll. As mo re of us o p t fo r
city life. we fi nd ourselves getti ng in
each o ther's way mo re often. Ubiq–
uito us wait ing lines tes t o ur pa–
tience . Commuting has become a
ja ng ling endura nce contes t. Thin
a pa r tment wa lls make us privy to
our ne ig hbo r's mos t in ti ma te ac tivi–
ties . Even rela tively s pacious subur–
ba n lo ts don ' t rea lly provide us wi th
the pr ivacy we'd like Lo have. Back
ya rds can be nea rly use less
if every move one's ch ildren
make is ca r ried out unde r
the wa tch fu l eye o f a n irri–
table neig hbor ben t o n pro–
tecting his adjoini ng pa nsy
beds.
But ironica lly enoug h all
th is te n sio n- p r o d u c i n g
overc rowdi ng s t i l l le av es
many of us wi th few o p–
po rt uni ti es for rea l intima te
contact. Not on ly are rea lly
d eep. c ndu r in g , s t a b l c
fr iendshi ps few and fa r be–
tween. but th e re is a lack o f
t r ue com mun it y fee l in g
amo ng city dwclle rs. 1n a
p lace like New York C ity.
peopl e can live in an a part –
men t bu ild ing ro r yea rs a nd
neve r speak to their nexl–
door ne ighbo rs. T h is lo neli –
ness a nd feeli ng o f a li en–
a tion exac ts a price in Le rms
of men ta l healt h.
O ur c ities also breed fear.
Wi th crime a t an a ll- time
~
h igh and incrcasi ng da ily,
few of us ha ve t he cou rage
to ava il ou rse lvcs of the peace we
m ig ht fin d on a wa lk th roug h the
park. Pa rks are good hi ding p laces
for mu ggers. ra pi sts . an d o t her
harmful types. So we retrea t in to
our locked a nd barred fort resses
an d ta ke in o ur violence vicario usly
on the t ube . But even then we can' t
The
PLAIN TRUTH November 1976