Ambient music used to help with mental health

NEW YORK - From a carriage ride in the snow, to a London thunderstorm set in the Victorian Era, to an enchanted forest glowing with fireflies, people are turning to 'Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response' or ASMR videos for a little escape.

"Ambient music has helped with anxiety and depression and other mental health challenges," says clinical psychologist, Dr. Jeff Gardere. "It has helped people with some pain management and being able to recover quicker from surgeries to having an overall better mental wellbeing."
 
Magdalena Petkova is the creator of the "Vault of Ambience," she knew she had something special on her hands when people started flocking to her YouTube channel to watch her collection of soothing sights and sounds. 

"People are so satisfied and happy with my videos," says Petkova, who moved back to her native Bulgaria from Dallas at the start of the pandemic. "They tell me that my videos inspire them a lot and helped them cope through all these hard times, especially now."

Petkova adds it takes about a day to create and produce a roughly two-hour video. Her most popular one, "Carriage Ride Through The Woods," has garnered almost 800,000 views.