I am old enough to have experienced life before the internet. One aspect of pre-internet society, especially in small towns like the one I grew up in, was a sense that people each had their own weird little things and that those weird little things should probably be kept to the themselves. When the internet came around, those same people suddenly had access to way more information and communities than they would have otherwise. Many were quickly able to learn that
their weird little thing wasn’t actually just theirs, even when it was still a bit weird.
I had two such weird things growing up. The first was that I tended to sneeze when going outside on a sunny day. The internet solved that mystery for me relatively quickly. It turned out to be a fairly common genetic condition called photic sneeze reflex. The second weird thing, however, has been more of a slow burn. In fact, it is so weird that not even the internet had a name for it until 2007, and I would argue finally having a name has led to as much skepticism as it has validation. My second weird thing is that I experience ASMR.
There has been a lot about ASMR in the wider press, mostly due to some truly weird YouTube videos out there. On the off chance you haven’t heard of it, here’s the description from Wikipedia:
[ASMR] has been described as “a static tingling sensation originating from the back of the head, then propagating to the neck, shoulder, arm, spine, and legs, which makes people feel relaxed and alert”.
The weird wording in that blurb is because there frustratingly hasn’t been that much clinical study on the subject so pretty much all of the information available is either people self reporting, like me here, or human interest articles that are basically about how weird ASMR is. To that end, I can’t really speak to other’s experience or even be sure it’s the same ASMR I am talking about. Part of my motivation for writing about this is to report my specific experience which differs in some ways with the wider perception of ASMR.
I have occasionally experienced ASMR since I was about five years old. While I’ve responded to physical and visual triggers, the most effective type of trigger for me is auditory. Furthermore, there is almost certainly an acoustic aspect for me. YouTube videos can work, but not nearly as well or as reliable as sounds in my physical space. I also strongly suspect that novelty is a factor, in that a sound that triggers once may not have the same effect on subsequent encounters. I cannot self-trigger. Triggers have to be external. Finally, I would say the sounds that trigger my ASMR are weird, but not particularly gross like many of the YouTube videos. Here are a few examples of sounds that have triggered my ASMR:
- Playing with blocks or Legos
- Guitar playing/practicing
- Repeated crinkles of a chip bag
- Drawing or sketching (this has a visual component as well)
All of these sounds have at some point given me an incredibly relaxing tingling sensation, always starting at the top of my head and sometimes working throughout my body. To be honest, the closest experience that I can compare it to was being given intravenous morphine while in the hospital after I broke my back. That probably sounds scary and it would be if not for some key differences. First and foremost, and like the Wikipedia blurb says, I am alert. Not alert in that I am anxious, but alert in that I have complete control of my faculties. The second difference is that while I can’t self-trigger, I can easily prevent the sensation by simply choosing not to focus on whatever stimulus. Finally, it doesn’t seem addictive. ASMR is an extremely pleasant experience, but I haven’t ever found myself craving it.
Every now and then, I search the internet to see if there have been any studies that explain ASMR. While a few exist that seem to back much of what I’ve experienced, they’ve typically relied on self reporting. Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad to have the validation of those who share this experience, but I really hope that one day the internet will finally give me a good theory as to what ASMR actually is.
