Everyone loves a good story. Whether it’s about the hottest gossip among celebrities or based on a true crime, people love hearing the nitty gritty details of the entire story. One popular way of entertaining these interests is through podcasts, which, contrary to popular belief, are anything but relaxing. While podcasts are a good method of learning and listening to information, research has shown that they can be mentally taxing on a person’s brain when it comes to the intense concentration and multitasking required. No matter how riveting the audio world can be to relate new information, there are many disadvantages to podcasts that most people are unaware of.
While a good podcast can immerse people into a good story, it was proven to be a major strain on the brain. Whenever people decide to listen to podcasts, it is usually playing in the background while they are doing a variety of other tasks. Because of this, it is forcing the brain to multitask and focus on thousands of different activities. Research has shown that a person’s brain is actually five times more active when listening to an audio story. As a result, this puts a strain on a person’s brain stimulus as people are having to process this information much faster than usual. Especially when this is done on top of other tasks, it is even more mentally taxing when people are trying two or more things at once. In fact, work performance is decreased by 40% when people are constantly multitasking throughout the week. Additionally, when people listen to episode after episode, their brain will not get the break it needs or deserves. Constantly processing all of that information while trying to keep up with the quick pace of the story can send your brain into overdrive and hurt your nervous system. When people binge watch podcasts and try to listen to them while performing multiple other tasks, it is mentally and physically straining on someone’s brain and does not help them properly process information.
Moreover, listening to podcasts has proven to be anything but relaxing for people. When listening to an audio story, persistent concentration is required to fully understand the information that is shared. For most people, though, specifically teenagers, this is highly unlikely with all of the other stressful things going on in their lives. As most students and children struggle to concentrate for an hour, actually comprehending all verbal information from a two and a half hour or longer podcast is highly unlikely. When this happens, students end up stressing out and focusing on all of their other endeavors, which counteracts the whole notion of listening to a relaxing story. This can cause stress because a person’s brain is having to build imagery just like when reading a book, the only difference being that they have to keep up with the pace of the story and process the information much quicker. While very thrilling for our bodies, podcasts cause the brain an immense amount of stress because of the intense adrenaline rush that our endorphins experience. In some instances, the rush can be too much, and cause more stress than comfort.
While many people believe that podcasts are an efficient way to calm a person’s brain, in many cases they aren’t. Ultimately, it depends on the podcast, but the ones that are more crime based and learning filled can be more taxing on a person’s brain stimulus. When people are repeatedly listening to podcasts while performing multiple other duties, they are more prone to become distracted and are unable to fully give their attention to something. However impressive multitasking may be, it is not worth the stress people can experience when they are trying to concentrate on multiple different things.
Overall, podcasts can be deceiving in a couple of different ways. While they are great methods of learning and relaxing for some people, they have some significant disadvantages. The extra added strain and uncomforting nature of podcasts can be difficult to overcome. With the intense concentration required and the mental toll it can take on a person’s brain, it can be hard for many people to truly immerse themselves within the realm of the audio world. While no one should completely cut out the ability to listen to podcasts, they should be aware that sometimes it can be more taxing than relaxing.
