BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » ASMR (tingles in the head)

Marva · November 20, 2013 3:17 pm

There is on other thing which I discovered this year besides Sherlock and which tied me to my computer for hours and hours and I would like to know if anyone of you had a similar experience.

This other 'thing' is ASMR which stands for autonomous sensory meridian response and which is not a medical term as this phenomenon has not been described by medical sciences yet.

ASMR is a very pleasant physical response that some people have while listening to certain sounds or watching certain events. The feeling can best be described as 'tingles on the scalp" (but the whole body can be affected, too). It is very pleasant and calming, some people even fall asleep while experiencing it. It can be most likely compared to goose bumps, but ASMR is much more intense and much more special. For me it is a feeling that is so extrem in its intensity and uniqueness as falling in love or sexual arousal.

I experience ASMR during my whole life when listening to certain kinds of voices ("soft" voices) or for example when my mother ran her fingures gently through my hair when I was a child. I always thought I am kind of the only person in the world experiencing this as it is never mentioned in any kind of discussion or book or anywhere else and I didn't want to talk about it because I thought it is kind of "weird".

Then, earlier this year, I read a newspaper article about said phenomenon, or, to be precise, about the phenomenon that there are a lot of videos on youtube where people just speak in a soft voice about toally random, mostly uninteresting stuff and which still generate hundreds of thousands of clicks (abviously the poor author of the newspaper article is not experiencing ASMR himself).

Immediatly, I knew what this was all about and, well, I spent too many hours than I would like to admit watching and more importantly LISTEN to these videos.

Does this sound any familiar to you?

For those of you who are curious:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXShzMV0vTg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-mEowDm3Rc&feature=c4-overview&list=UU6gLlIAnzg7eJ8VuXDCZ_vg

or just type ASMR into youtube

Now tell me, are there any ASMR-ers among you??

Mattlocked · November 20, 2013 4:36 pm

Well, this is interesting!
I don't think I am a "ASMR-er", as I didn't feel any tingles. BUT. Some of the videos I find quite relaxing and it is nice, like concentrating back on the "essentials" instead of racing through life. I like the sounds they make with brushes, plastic, pens. Tried it using my headphones, too.
I also like the whispers. What I find a bit disturbing is the changing from the left to the right side and back again.

Definitely something I will explore further!

Marva · November 20, 2013 4:47 pm

Mattlocked wrote:
What I find a bit disturbing is the changing from the left to the right side and back again.

Don't worry, also ASMR-ers don't like everything. For example, a lot of people seem to be into watching somebody folding towels which I think is just totally boring .

Mattlocked wrote:
Definitely something I will explore further!

that's great!

KeepersPrice · November 20, 2013 5:32 pm

Interesting concept. Not sure if this is the same thing but sometimes when I'm watching a movie or theater production that I find stimulating, or beautiful, or of exceptional quality, my eyes will water. It's not like crying tears because nothing comes out of my eyes onto my cheeks and I don't feel like I want to cry. My eyes just get watery - similar to that goose bump response I guess. I remember having it when I first went to see "Star Wars' back in the day. Computer effects like that had never been seen before plus the story was so engaging that my eyes watered all through. Had the same reaction recently when I went to see Cavalia (sort of a Cirque de Soleil with amazing, gorgous horses). When those beautiful animals began to appear magically on stage, there went the eyes!

Marva · November 21, 2013 8:30 am

KeepersPrice wrote:
Interesting concept. Not sure if this is the same thing but sometimes when I'm watching a movie or theater production that I find stimulating, or beautiful, or of exceptional quality, my eyes will water. It's not like crying tears because nothing comes out of my eyes onto my cheeks and I don't feel like I want to cry. My eyes just get watery - similar to that goose bump response I guess. I remember having it when I first went to see "Star Wars' back in the day. Computer effects like that had never been seen before plus the story was so engaging that my eyes watered all through. Had the same reaction recently when I went to see Cavalia (sort of a Cirque de Soleil with amazing, gorgous horses). When those beautiful animals began to appear magically on stage, there went the eyes!

Well that sounds pretty interesting, too. I've never heared of that. So, do you just have a physical response (water in the eyes) or is it also accompanied by pleasureable feelings (besides the enjoyement you obviously experience while watching a great show)?

EDIT: I just found a great article from TIME on the subject (lucky author is a ASMRer herself, this time): http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/11/18/the-internet-gives-me-brain-orgasms-and-maybe-you-can-get-them-too/

Last edited by Marva (November 21, 2013 10:33 am)

Davina · November 21, 2013 8:12 pm

Definitely get these! Sometimes music, sometimes scene or image, sometimes a voice, an event etc. That spine tingling, heightened response kind of thing.

QuiteExtraordinary · November 21, 2013 11:01 pm

Interesting. I didn't know that weird thing has a name. I watched one of the videos yesterday. At first I found it unpleasant (it tickled in my ears) but after a while it became very relaxing. I fell asleep. I might get addicted to that.

Marva · November 22, 2013 8:26 am

Davina wrote:
Definitely get these! Sometimes music, sometimes scene or image, sometimes a voice, an event etc. That spine tingling, heightened response kind of thing.

so did you already know about these videos etcc. or do you 'only' experience accidently in your daily life?

QuiteExtraordinary wrote:
Interesting. I didn't know that weird thing has a name. I watched one of the videos yesterday. At first I found it unpleasant (it tickled in my ears) but after a while it became very relaxing. I fell asleep. I might get addicted to that.

sorry for that ;-). I hope it will be a pleasureable addiction, after all.

Davina · November 22, 2013 11:45 am

Accidentally in my everyday life...

QuiteExtraordinary · November 22, 2013 8:58 pm

Marva wrote:
sorry for that ;-). I hope it will be a pleasureable addiction, after all.

Yes, it's a good thing, especially because life is a bit stressful for me at the moment - it's good to have something I can use to relax.

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November 20, 2013 3:17 pm #1

ASMR (tingles in the head)

November 20, 2013 4:36 pm #2

Re: ASMR (tingles in the head)

November 20, 2013 4:47 pm #3

Re: ASMR (tingles in the head)

Mattlocked wrote:

Mattlocked wrote:

November 20, 2013 5:32 pm #4

Re: ASMR (tingles in the head)

November 21, 2013 8:30 am #5

Re: ASMR (tingles in the head)

KeepersPrice wrote:

November 21, 2013 8:12 pm #6

Re: ASMR (tingles in the head)

November 21, 2013 11:01 pm #7

Re: ASMR (tingles in the head)

November 22, 2013 8:26 am #8

Re: ASMR (tingles in the head)

Davina wrote:

QuiteExtraordinary wrote:

November 22, 2013 11:45 am #9

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November 22, 2013 8:58 pm #10

Re: ASMR (tingles in the head)

Marva wrote:

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