If you have ADHD and you haven’t heard of sound therapy read this and discover how it can totally save your day and your sleep.
If you suffer from anxiety or have ADHD, your brain can become overwhelmed by internal noise: intrusive thoughts, mental distractions, emotional spirals, or an avalanche of stimuli. It’s a living nightmare to focus. In these cases, your mind turns inward, amplfying all of these negative thoughts in a distressing and exhausting way.
Sound can act as a ‘cognitive anchor’ — a stable, external reference point that helps ground your attention in the present moment.
By giving the brain something predictable and consistent to focus on, sound essentially says:
‘Here is where you are. Stay with this’. For ADHD brains that struggle to regulate attention and filter out distractions, this is essential.
Attention in the brain – the science of bottom-up and top-down sounds.
Our attention is governed by a balance between bottom-up (stimulus-driven) and top-down (goal-directed) processes.
In ADHD, bottom-up processes are often too dominant — any noise, visual cue, or thought can hijack attention.
In anxiety, top-down control is often overwhelmed by emotional circuits which hijack focus with fear or rumination.
Enter ambient sound or structured music …
The ability that sound displays on the brain’s function is mind-blowing itself. Both ambient or structured music does several things neurologically:
It engages the auditory cortex in a steady, non-threatening way, reducing the need for internal mental narration, which calms overthinking.
Medically speaking, the sound reduces the activation of your brain’s ‘default mode network’ less, which is often overactive in anxiety and mind-wandering and it helps your salience network determine what’s important and stick with it.
In short, sound helps tip the balance of attention outward, making your internal thought chatter less dominant.
Has it got to be ambient or repetitive sounds?
Yes, because not all sounds are equally helpful. Chaotic or highly dynamic music (with lyrics, sudden changes, or emotional content) can be distracting.
But steady-state, ambient, or lightly modulated sounds provide key benefits:
– Low cognitive demand: You don’t need to follow the music — it just exists, like a backdrop.
– Continuous presence: Your brain can tether to it without being startled or disrupted.
– No emotional provocation: It doesn’t evoke strong memory or emotion (unlike familiar songs).
– Sonic masking: It helps block out sudden external noises that can hijack attention or trigger anxiety.
Enter the Endel app …
Endel is part of a broader movement recognising the benefits of sound therapy in ADHD management. Other approaches, such as binaural beats and nature sounds, have also shown promise in enhancing focus and reducing anxiety.
A study published on bioRxiv explored how modulation in background music affects sustained attention. The findings suggest that specific acoustic modulations can enhance focus, particularly in individuals with ADHD and underscores the potential of tailored sound environments in supporting cognitive functions.
Endel utilises patented technology to generate real-time adaptive soundscapes by considering factors relevant to the user – from time of day, weather, your heart rate, and location, the app creates auditory experiences that align with your current or desired state. Neuroscience research supports Endel’s efficacy, showing a 7x increase in focus and a 3.6x decrease in stress with regular use. Users maintained longer, more consistent focus during 95% of listening time.
The app modes are crafted based on psychoacoustic principles, tailored to specific needs:
- Focus: Designed to help users concentrate on tasks and maintain a flow state.
- Relax: Aims to calm the mind with soothing sound textures.
- Sleep: Utilises delta waves to promote restful sleep.
- On-the-Go: Adapts to physical activities, enhancing movement experiences.
Reduction of intrusive thoughts.
If you struggle with anxiety, please know that sound serves another incredible role: it occupies the mental foreground just enough to limit background worry loops.
Think of it like gently turning down the volume on mental noise — without needing to consciously fight your thoughts.
You may have felt this before without realising why … has a quiet room felt overwhelming when you’re anxious – your thoughts echo louder – but a room with a subtle hum or calming soundtrack can reduce the mental load?
There are a few apps and sounds to experiment with and find the right level and volume of ambience for you. Endel.io, brainFM and Calm. Try them out and let us know which elements work for you.
