Autonomous sensory meridian response. You want it.

Autonomous sensory meridian response.  Asmr.  Remember my snatation post?  You know? How I sneeze when I get too full? Well maybe my odd physical reaction to sneezing is related to my asmr, but at least with asmr, it is something I enjoy.

Now if you haven't googled it already, (and once you do you will think I must be completely insane) asmr is basically characterized by a pleasurable tingling sensation that occurs in the brain and continues on through the scalp, often traveling down the arms. This physical response usually occurs in response to external stimuli that is NOT from touch.  I repeat. Not from touch.  How can a scalp tingle without being actually touched? Well I don't know.  I'm not a scientist. But I do know it is a real thing and that I've had this reaction to certain noises since I was a child.  I also know my mom and sister have similar physical reactions to other noises. 

From the time I can remember, I've always been really sensitive to both noises and smells. My biggest pet peeves? People obnoxiously chewing gum and eating too loudly, especially "wet" foods, like bananas or ice cream (you know who you are). But on the other end of the spectrum, I am grossly attracted to other sounds.  Since I was vey young,  the sound of magazine pages turning would almost cripple me...in a good way.  I would be sitting in school and would hear someone turning the thick pages of a textboook and I would literally be mesmerized.  Entranced. If I happened to be writing somthing, I would be unable to keep a grip on my pencil.  My fingers would go all tickly, for lack of a better word.  My head felt all full.  It was amazing.  The feeling did not last too long, maybe five minutes, but it just felt so nice! I would often seek out people who were reading magazines or thick books, just to hear this noise.  I noticed that some other things made me feel this feeling.  Watching people get their hair brushed.  Seeing and listening to people organize stuff that had hard containers like makeup bags, pencil boxes or junk drawers. You wonder why Bob Ross was so popular? Yea. That's right. It ain't the happy trees and clouds.  His voice can actually send people into this braingasmic state. Even someone flipping through a card catalogue would work for me. If you don't know who Bob Ross is (and no, you don't know who Bob Ross is because you saw some ironic t-shirt with his face on it) or what a card catalogue is, then you are too young and I hate you. Go bring me a latte or something.

I know my mom reacts similarly to the sound of gum being chewed and popped, which is a sound I cannot stand. My sister reacts to crunchy noises, like the sound of tires driving over gravel.  My amazing sloshy-banana chewing and ice cream slurping husband once made me a cd of him just turning magazine pages over and over.  Although I can't listen to this while driving (totally serious) I would play it on repeat over and over at work.  As a bonus to the tingles, I always sound super productive. After some looks from coworkers, I did a little googling and to my surprise, found asmr information.  I was amazed that my experience was shared by many others. Although it has always been weird, I was neve bothered because it feels so nice.  It is not sexual. It is not erotic. It is just a feeling in my brain and scalp that is very pleasant. 

I wonder if anyone else I know experiences this...anyone that I'm not related to, that is.