ASMR: What is This Tingling Sensation in my Head?
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The ASMR Network
- ASMR Research & Support
- ASMR Facebook Page
- ASMR Group on Facebook
- The Unnamed Feeling
Blog about ASMR, AKA AIE - ASMR Twitter page
- The Unnamed Feeling YouTube Channel
- ASMR. Orgasms for your brain!
reddit: the front page of the internet - The Society of Sensationalists
Do you get this head tingling sensation?
See results without votingVideo Experiment
"I remember when I was about eight or so, sitting outside in the sun on the back porch, near the pool, listening to the old gardener we used to have years ago whistle while he worked. I was just so caught up in the moment, and had these intense tingling sensations just flow from head."
The Unnamed Feeling…
When I was a young child, I remember having these experiences where I would sit and listen to the radio on the bed. I would lie there with my head pressed right up against it as it lay on the bed, taking in every word – to the point where it actually left deep grooves in the side of my head (they went away eventually - don’t worry.).
I also clearly remember when I was about eight or so, sitting outside in the sun on the back porch, near the pool, listening to the old gardener we used to have years ago whistle while he worked. I was just so caught up in the moment, and had these intense tingling sensations just flow from head.
This was the beginning of a life-long journey that would bring me to my most recent discoveries, and attempts to try and get behind the origin of this seemingly undocumented phenomenon. Something that I had taken for granted for years, and had never known if anyone else had ever had the same feeling.
I continued to have these sensations throughout my childhood, my teenage years, and into my adulthood. It was only last year that I searched for the first time online, even though I'd had the internet for years, and came across a forum where people were discussing this exact thing: a strange, but pleasurable feeling that felt like tingles in the head – which some described as akin to an orgasm or perhaps being on a high after recreational drug use. Some addicts who also experience these sensations claim it even rivals Ecstasy or “E” as far as the effects are concerned.
I naturally read through this two-part series of threads where people talked about it, and gave their opinions on what it was, and what caused it.
Not only that but I began to search for other threads similar in topic, and also began to actively try and experience this sensation more and more often. One thing I did was to start collecting audio clips, watch video clips online, listen to the radio, and watch certain programs on TV that were dead certs – that is to say, guaranteed to create this head tingling.
ASMR and Other Terms
I started to plan a blog, which I felt would be part of a pioneering effort in a niche which had up to that point been untapped – or so it seemed. It was earlier on this year that I finally unleashed The Unnamed Feeling blog upon the internet: a blog that is dedicated to commentary, theories, and the sharing of stories as regards my experiences with this phenomenon. This unexplained thing first became known as AIHO (Attention-Induced Head Orgasm), then AIE (Attention-Induced Euphoria) – for those looking for a less sexual approach, and also brought about several other acronyms like ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) – probably one of the more widely used, as well as others.
Some casual or humourous terms for it include braingasms, and WHS (Weird Head Sensation).
At the moment, there’s my blog, UNF, or The Unnamed Feeling, as well as The Society of Sensationalists – a Yahoo group; the ASMR Facebook Group, as well as the newly registered and soon to expand ASMR Research and Support site. These are all linked together in a network dedicated to sharing, discovering, researching, and explaining this seemingly uncommon case. Currently there are many who experience it worldwide - maybe some more than others, and maybe some not at all. One thing is for sure: most of us have never met another experiencer in person; only via the internet.
ASMR Triggers
So how do you know if you happen to have these occurrences? A number of causes or triggers are shared by people, which I can list here. If you happen to have anything in common with these, then you might be an ASMR “sufferer”:
- Listen to specific people talk (usually soft-spoken, well-spoken voices or lispers).
- Listen to the radio or podcasts when these people are talking.
- Watch certain TV programs, or YouTube videos, like instructional ones, infomercials, adverts, historical or factual programs.
- People talking in a foreign or indigenous language.
- Get tickled lightly, especially on the back or shoulders.
- When someone strokes or plays with your hair softly.
- Having your hair washed and cut at a salon.
- When you listen to certain soft or distant, and usually repetitive, sounds like a bouncing tennis ball, trickling water, or construction noises like tapping hammers.
- Listen to certain types of music – perhaps ambient or industrial, for instance.
- Watching someone draw a picture, paint, or build something, perhaps like a sculpture or even a card tower.
- Watch someone write.
- Someone drawing on your body.
- People reading a newspaper over your shoulder.
- People looking for something in their handbags.
- Someone doing something very slowly and carefully.
- People working at computers; perhaps the sound of keys being tapped or the click of a mouse.
- Listening to someone chew gum.
- Someone using sign language.
- People whispering.
- Listening to elderly people talk.
- Listening to strangers talk, rather than family or friends and more well-known individuals in one’s life.
- From reading various pieces of reading material.
- Someone showing you how to do something.
- Someone clipping their nails or using a nail file.
Possible Symptoms and Side Effects
Symptoms or side effects that might occur after or during the sensation which might be caused by one or several of the above triggers, and experienced by only some of the ASMR population, include:
- A headache (usually just a slight one however).
- Slight nausea.
- Tiredness – probably due to the relaxing effects of the event. Some claim however that it gives them a limited amount of focus while working on a project. I often make myself experience a hit while writing about ASMR, even while writing this article now.
- Others say that at the conclusion of an event that their eyes water – probably because it ended!
- Numbness in the fingers, reported by some.
- See visions and funny symbols, especially when eyes are closed.
- Sadness or irritability when the event ends, with people claiming they “don’t want it to end”.
Type A and Type B ASMR
One can also further divide ASMR into two groups:
Type A: consciously controlled trigger of an ASMR event.
Type B: uncontrolled or externally triggered ASMR event.
Type A would refer to an activity such as meditation, where the person is alone, with nobody else around and no distractions either. They can make the sensation occur at will, just using the mind.
Type B refers to watching TV, listening to the radio, or someone speak, or being physically touched. This is what is meant be external factors that trigger ASMR.
Some claim that Type B is the more common one as it is perhaps easier to trigger, and may result in longer, more sustained events. It is not unusual for one to experience one or the other, or even both – with a bit of practice. Another thing that I’ve noticed is that external triggers are much more likely to enhance or act as a boost to an all ready existing event. Even climate effects such as the cold could add to the overall experience.
With these Type B triggers, sometimes repetition of the trigger or playing a video our sound clip on a loop can increase the sensation drastically. It’s not unusual however to become immune or used to a trigger after a while. It’s like you build up a tolerance level or become bored with that sample, and this is when people start to seek out more and more things that will create the sensation, often searching for the ultimate in triggers.
Theories and Public Reactions
Some mistake this sensation for heebie-jeebies, chills, goose bumps or pins and needles. But these are all usually associated with generally negative emotions such as fear, anxiety, pain, or just being cold.
ASMR is thought to be a positive feeling, which usually results in bouts of euphoria, with varying degrees of intensity, often described as being similar to a tide sweeping in. It can fade in and out, or can be a more constant feeling all over the cranium, spreading to various other body parts with some people. Naturally, seeing as this sensation seems to originate at the head, it’s quite something if it can reach all the way down to the legs or even the feet! That would constitute a major hit, especially if it’s a whole body sensation.
Indeed it is a topic that not everyone understands – with people who experience it often feeling alone, isolated, and misunderstood. Perhaps they are even regarded as a freak or an outcast, particularly if the subject is brought up with someone who doesn’t experience it. I’ve only brought up the subject with a few people in my entire life, and was met with either confusion or indifference most of the time. And I’ve read many other stories where people reacted in much the same matter, even recommending the poor fellow’s committal!
Generally speaking it seems to be something linked with people with certain personality traits. Usually people who experience it are gentle in nature, perhaps spiritual, deep, introspective, and maybe even introverted. Creative or predominantly right-brained individuals might also be more prone to having it. This is because quite a few people who tend to exhibit the symptoms happen to be artists or musicians. This might just be coincidence though. I personally am half-half: half logical (left brained) and half creative (right brained).
It seems to occur less and less as one gets older however.
It is not known whether there have been scientific or medical studies on this subject, or if there are proper terms for it. I’ve even spoken to doctors, in real life and online, and even though some of them might actively experience this, I’ve had word from one that there may well not be much official research put into this – mainly because it’s hard to explain, and not a pathology, like a disease such as cancer. This seems to say that it’s not as “important”.
There have been several theories or guesses,
such as a physical consciousness of a serotonin release in the brain, or even endorphins. What this means is that you can actually “feel” the
chemicals being released in the head. Dopamine is said to have the reverse effect and can stop the tingling sensations from taking place.
Others include narcolepsy- a tendency to fall asleep in relaxed situations. Some people who experience tingles have been diagnosed with this condition. Whether this is coincidence or not is unknown. Others include ESP (extrasensory perception), or another controversial one is that the subjects are Indigo Children- evolved or evolving human beings.
Another suggests that it is a synaesthesia, where one sense or part of the body is stimulated, such as the eyes (sight), skin and scalp (touch), ears (hearing), and less commonly smell and taste, and another sense or part of the body is stimulated. Others deny this, and say that synaesthesia has more to do with colours however.
And then another theory suggests that it’s drug-induced, or that drugs might increase the overall intensity of it. But from someone who’s never experimented with recreational drug use to this point, I can say that this is likely not true.
Naysayers and unsupportive types have suggested it’s something negative and more serious, like an issue with the brain such as a tumour. But experiencers and supporters are quick to silence these claims with a rebuttal.
That is why we have this network I mentioned earlier, as well as a small core team, of which I am a member. The aim is to research this phenomenon and document it, all the while creating a community for those who wish to communicate with others who experience ASMR. We are also very partial to sharing our personal stories related to the topic and “hits” with other members.
The community is small but growing, and consists of different individuals that can ironically be grouped into a few different classes:
You have your ASMR experiencers, your non-ASMR experiencers who still support the group, and lastly voyeurs. This last group is basically an inside joke in the group, which really refers to people who are interested in the topic and all, and will join in but probably don’t experience it at all, or support much; people who just find the subject fascinating. Not that we really mind that much though.
So if you are tired of feeling alone, sick of being accused of being weird, and want to be part of the community, then don’t hesitate to visit the websites I have listed here that deal with this subject.
"A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?" - Albert Einstein
"You have to go on and be crazy. Craziness is like heaven". - Jimi Hendrix
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The Unnamed Feeling
- Beta Version of an ASMR App has been Released!
Type B ASMR experiencers may be in for a treat. At one point not too long ago on Reddit I saw someone ask if there would be any interest in an ASMR app for use on select smartphones and tablets. It... - 6 days ago
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I am 38 and have had this since I was little. I have Googled the sensation before, but this is the first that I have found an answer. Mine is triggered when I am going through a car wash, getting my hair washed at a salon (as a child), on the phone with customer service or a phone survey, and being waited on at stores. I also have trich (since I was 9) and am now wondering if subconsiously I was trying to replicate the phenomenon since pulling causes a tingling but not quite the same or as euphoric.
Googled it after just experiencing an event whilst at work listening and watching our IT department try and fix an issue with my PC
I have been getting the experiences since I was young, it was very distracting at school and still is very distracting as usually get the experiences when I need to be taking in information.
I have recently suffered migranes and although I do not think it is related can confirm that I ended up having an MRI scan and it showed up nothing... this is good news to anyone who is worried.
It is good to know that there are others out there who also experience the feelings but it would be good to know what is happening and if it is preventable as often it means I am missing something important that is being explained to me.
Typical triggers are
Watching some one do something in close proximity
Having something explained to me
Having my hair cut our stroked
YES! I have this too. I recently was directed here when I was researching synesthesia. After reading a lot about both conditions,I'm venturing a guess that they are closely related to the same area of the brain. I also have some of the symptoms of synesthesia such as color association with letters, numbers, days of the week, months, but the "tingly" feeling that I suspected was part of being a synesthete is more related to what you have explained here. Mostly because it happens with more than one scenario. For me, even though it's mostly when I watch people draw or write, also watching fix things, organize, clean, etc. will also trigger it. Just yesterday, I was watching a photographer adjust the lens on her camera and it happened. I used to sort of be ashamed of it because it most certainly feels nice! It can have some downfalls though. It was very distracting in school when I was supposed to be learning especially since I went to Art School. I would find myself purposefully watching other students write and draw just so I could experience the the "tingle". Until now, when I would try to explain it, most would just think I was a nut! Good to know I'm not the only nut out here. Thank you for the info. I'm going to investigate this more and possible connections to synesthesia if there are any.
This is the first page I have found since I started searching for a definition of this experience. It sounds almost exactly like what I have experienced for years. I'm the type that can actually make it happen at will and in pretty much any situation. Eyes open, eyes closed, in public, at home - doesn't matter. It feels like it originates in the brain stem somewhere and sends waves upwards throughout my brain but mostly along the topside. I've been scared after doing it for a while thinking that it may provoke some type of stroke or something but so far it's just a very pleasurable feeling.
I get this at cafes and bars when I am waiting and watching the server make something for me. I never realized that so many other people had this with triggers relating to watching someone's hands! My other trigger is having my hair cut or done. I get the tingles maybe 10 times a year, so it is a lovely surprise when it happens! (I haven't been able to trigger it from videos.)
I've been getting the head tingles since I was little. When people eat, especially when they chew loudly, the tingles shoot through my head. Whoever said it's like a head orgasm nailed it. That's exactly what it is. Although, for some strange reason when some of the people closest to me make chewing noises it has no effect. Everyone else does though. I think we're all blessed. Who wouldn't want a head orgasm?
I am 41 and have been feeling this sensation my whole life, less now that I am older. I am glad to know I am not the only one, don't know why I just decided to google it. A big trigger for me is to listen someone speak a foreign language that I don't understand.
Great article!
I first noticed this tingling sensation when I was in my early teens. I babysat for a little girl who liked to draw - that's when I first noticed it. (Even thinking about watching someone draw brings it on, like now!) It's also strong when I see someone typing on a computer. Listening to someone humming absent-mindedly can bring it on, too.
We all have an incredible amount of brain activity going on in our heads, but it's all very private and internal. When I watch someone draw or type, or I hear them unconsciously humming, it feels like I'm witnessing some of what's going on in their head. And that's why my head tingles - it's a brain-to-brain connection.
I just typed in "glowing feeling in forehead" on a whim and came to this. My mind has been blown. I've always been able to call the feeling at will, though its sometimes triggered by other things. I'm really astounded that there's a name for it. I've never met anyone who could understand what I was talking about when I tried to describe this!
you get that feeling when you are awakening; your third eye is starting to open, it's a sixth sense, try and stimulate it and you will see the light.
I get these tingles a lot and I always thought they were normal, but it's kinda cool that there's a name for it :D Interesting article, thank you!
Just a quick question, I am also a lucid dreamer, could that perhaps be linked to ASMR?
The wave from this video is so strong I feel it in both legs, my elbows, and feet (as well as the obvious head and back of the neck).
(continued) I'm 29 and I've gotten this feeling for as long as I can remember.
Holy crap... apparently I'm not the only one.
I get it repeatedly from the following:
1: People "smacking" their chewing gum... not loudly... but just enough to hear it "pop" occasionally.
2: Back-scratches, head-rubs, and haircuts.
3: Soft soothing or slow voices. I've gotten it from listening to Garrison Keillor from a Prairie Home Companion on NPR and I get it all the time from Esteban Vihaio's voice from Kill Bill vol 2. Start watching from 0:45 and see if you get it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flpxujAPNYE
Once I get the first "wave" which is usually a lesser, introductory tingle, I can almost always replicate the sensation by "passively focusing" on whatever has caused it. This usually causes the next wave or third wave to be very strong and euphoric.
Yes, I get this feeling too! I had been wondering if others felt it and if there was a specific name for it. I'm 14, female. I get it strongly when watching relaxing videos, or if people are touching my hair, or sometimes people talking.
I get this very often and use it to get to sleep using youtube and i love having it since i have a mild case of insomnia although i have drifted of before at the dentist any way thanks for this realy helped explain it
Watching people do something for me or a person taking the time to explain something to me usually triggers this feeling in me. Someone else here mentioned getting their haircut triggers it and I have had the same experience. I love the feeling, it isn't a sexual feeling for me though, as some on here have said. For me it more like getting a mental massage, anyway that's the best way I can put it. If you are lucky enough to experience this effect, don't question it or worry about it, you aren't weird. Enjoy it!! :)
Oh! I almost forgot... The way i can recall "learning" to trigger this sensation at will, Like i said in my last comment "i get this feeling a lot, mostly when listening to music" Its kinda hard to put into words but i just want EVERYONE to feel what i feel more, especially the ones who have NEVER exp this!!! Okay so, when i listen to music that i like, my favorite genre is (pop punk) i just get this really good feeling in my heart and soul and im sure people who will try this will most likely get instant effects unless you are a emotionless robot or something, jk jk. But right before this i was listening to music and i felt it and everything and the feeling takes over and goes away, kinda like the current of an ocean, yknow (innn and outtt) i guess hah. But for consciously triggering this, the last time i did it (like 5 minutes ago) i was imagining my body with my eyes closed looking up at the sun feeling the wind and the energy from the sun with my arms wide open. I wasnt thinking about the future or the past, i was completely in my own world for a minute, living in the now, per say. But i feel "powerful" i guess when i trigger this feeling...maybe its because i almost cry when i do it. But that is the best way i can help on this topic, the rest is completely up to you. Peace and Love!
This is my first time looking this up even though i felt it all the time, i just figured it was the chills or something like that, but recently ive REALLY gotten into spirituality (not religion) and i get this feeling a lot, mostly when listening to music, but i can actually trigger it consciously! It is such an amazing feeling, im working on getting my whole body to feel that way but it will start either in the head, neck, or lower back, and it will travel throughout most of my body, im workin on getting this amazing feeling to cover my legs and lower half of my body. I dont wanna say too much and look foolish on here because im not some genius and im trying to lose ego so you see where im going with this. But hopefully my 3rd eye will open or ill be able to have OBE's or something playing around with this wonderful sensation more. Peace and Love!
I have always gotten this feeling, ever since I could remember... I find it odd that I never thought to research or talk to anyone about it and am now 20.. But I also find it to be an amazing feeling that cones at random times and once it has started, I try to focus and intensify as well as make this sensation last longer. I also share many of these triggers, the haircut is a for sure euphoria, as are many demonstrations or focusing on certain events. I do not normally assossiate it with music. However I have started to notice that I often get it when listening to a person with a foreign accent. Not sure if others experience this, but it happens very often for me.
Finally after watching a movie and experiencing what you all call ASMR and turned to my 14 year old daughter and asked do you ever get a fussy tingly sensation in your head, arms and legs...........she gave gave me a blank stare like I was a nut and then smiled and said why are you asking me that dad. I explained to her what I fearfully would not say to anyone due to many past experiences as a teen to again only be looked at like some kind of a nut. Anyway she said yes and asked me what it was.
Finally someone who could relate but still aloof as an early teen not wanting to be remotely to have something in common with her dad........yuck! Non the less now the questions persisted that an all knowing father could easily explain the physiology behind it, only to offer a simple "I don't know sweetie".
Anyway, I did a quick web search and presto I was on this site looking for info so I could explain the whole ball of wax to her. I handed her the iPad and said here it is, read it and let me know. After a minute she looked up and smiled and said this is it dad. So want to thank all of you for your comments to reinforce what I knew was different!
For me it almost always triggers through empathy seen and acted by others and selfless giving either live, movie or fabricated mentally. Even the anticipation of seeing the act of that love by others or knowing that they are caring to act to help in anything "without expectation" drives the flow from the head, down the cheeks into the peripheral areas of the chest, arms and legs.......I find it usually occurs on the most sensitive areas of the skin. It varies depending on the intensity of the trigger and can multiple wave over and over. My daughter like many others here has it when someone cuts or brushes her hair, seems like when someone pays attention to her voluntarily without request. For me it is only empathy and acts of kindness but also I have it usually when anticipating some song or music moment when or knowing that the writer must have desired the words or melody to again represent some act of kind human emotion.
I have grown to use it since a child to kind of know when someone is telling the truth or is sincere........the sure sign when the wave hits. I always felt it was a spiritual connection that can't be captured, almost like the connection between the soul or spirit with the body it drives......somehow it seems connected. Like everyone else it does feel great and sometimes feels like a reward for seeing the good acted out in others, or in music etc.. Hoping it keeps on giving and never runs out. Thank you all!
Thank you so much for this! I've had the tingling sensation all my life but i never realized it was uncommon until couple of days ago when my friend linked me "the virtual barbershop" and i really loved the sound of feeling the scissors and the razor close to my ear. After watching it I discussed it with my friend who thought it was scaringly real and she just felt like getting away from the scissor sound. I felt really confused because i had enjoyed the sound and after that i had just had to go find similar vids from youtube and somehow i ended up here and your article just explains so much! Thank you! :)
I have had this happen to me all my life! I didn't realize some people didn't! I found out when I was around 20, I have Asperger's... anybody else have both? perhaps a small connection? Thoughts?
Woah! I had no idea this was a more generalized phenomenon -- I just learned there was a name for it last night. I've experienced this intermittently since I was a kid. I'm excited to learn more about it, and also to check out those videos that are supposed to stimulate the feeling, since as we ASMR-ers know, it's suuuper pleasant.
Everything in this site is exactly what it's like with me. On that section about it being with musicians and artists, is very true. I am a Drummer and Guitarist, so I would guess that makes me a musician, and I get this sensation a lot with all of the triggers that have been mentioned. Just like a lot of you guys and girls I thought that I was the only one in the whole world with this "ASMR". I am truly glad to see that I am not. It does feel very pleasurable and I highly doubt that it is anything erroneous. I am glad I went to this site. It has cleared it up for me. Although I just accept that I get the sensation.
By the way, that video experiment worked perfectly. I got the sensation as soon as he started talking. He has a very soft, relaxing voice and it also occurred from the knife scratching and watching him create the picture (Did this happen with others aswell?).
One more thing - Considering how you stated that a lot of the occurrences tend to be with musicians and artists (People generally creative), I wonder if there are many musicians out there that experience this sensation? Anybody else think so?
Anyway, good luck to all of you with uncovering this strange phenomenon! Glad to see there are others out there that experience it! It does feel heavenly doesn't it?
I myself have thought that everyone feels this somehow (I haven't talked about this with anyone outside internet, though), so it's weird to hear that there are people who don't experiment this at all.
I've experimented it as long as I remember. Sometimes it's challenging to listen to some people who, for some reason, happen to have voice that "starts" this feeling.
hi im glad im not alone i just experienced this tingling in my head last night when i was watching & listening on you tube some Reiki Meditation. it goes away but comes back whenever i listen 2 some peaceful music. that night also i dream about seeing the crucifiction of Jesus it was the 3 cross and Jesus at d middle then suddenly i heard his voice but did not see him jst his voice from heaven but i dont remember what he told me. all i remember was he had the most beautiful voice that would realy touch d heart.. someone help me d meaning of dis dream? i remember also when i was graders dreaming of the virgin Mary on a cave.. and crying because i felt her pain and also the feeling of seeing her is unexplainable feeling.. anyways im 23 now.. im also a musician, i love nature.. and dis is the first tym i felt this feeling..
Ryan, your comment scares me because ive had troubles goung to sleep throught the years... I hope that has nothing to do with this
This sensation for a very large amount of people that experience this see it as a good thing. Unfortunately for me I don't.
Over years of being addicted to this 'tingling' feeling in my head, I realised it relaxed me. This was at the age of about 7 I realised this. I am 18 now and still get ASMR with many different triggers.
"That's normal what's wrong with that?"
The problem is, it use to relax me so much it was the only way I got to sleep, feeling this 'ASMR' or tingley feeling.
I have seen many sleep theropists now over a stretch of years and haven't discussed the 'asmr' with any of them after the first one.
When I told a doctor the reason I thought I couldn't sleep he said it was anxiety and that the 'feeling' I was having was no different to anyone else in stressful situations and that it would stop with 'some help'.
I knew even after all those hour long sleep therapy sessions that I wasn't crazy and thought I was the only one with this 'feeling'.
I now have apparantly what is called 'severe insomnia' where it will take strong medication to help me sleep.
I tried this medication and surely enough I fell asleep, but they are ridiculously addictive if over-used and I don't want to be in that mess.
I hope this doesn't happen to anybody else, and if it has, does anybody on here have and advice or a way of helping me?
I was glad to find a website that confirmed I wasn't crazy, it was be like icing on a cake if someone could help me?
Thank you if you took the time to read all of this, it's now taken over my life with only a few hours sleep a day and constantly feeling restless.
Ryan.
Woow im so happy im not a freak. Or perheaps we are all freaks. Either way I have not much to add except the one thing nobody mentions. The sound of a chalk while someone was writing on the blackboard used to trigger this for me all throughout the high school. It actually made Math class enjoyable can you believe it ?
Wow, this is so SO interesting. To think there’s a name for this ‘blissing out’ which I’ve experienced all my life! I have never really discussed it with anyone, just enjoying it as a personal, secret thing. I had noticed that people around me never talk about anything like this, except perhaps in the context of discussing hypnotism and the soothing power of the hypnotic voice.
I’m a physically (and emotionally) sensitive female, so I’ve taken this to be the enjoyable flip-side, the silver lining, the special ‘bonus’ to being “too sensitive”. I have described the sensation as though my brain is being stroked and caressed by a velvet-gloved hand.
My bliss-out triggers have been mostly aural, apart from having my hair washed, which also works. I have actually paid for scalp massages seeking the same effect but not getting it - so I think the added sound of water running is heavily involved.
I respond mainly to certain softly spoken female voices – often in person, definitely on the phone. Some male voices too, in recorded messages which I listen to over and over. What triggers me the most is where microphones, phones, or recording equipment picks up those further little mouth noises. I often bliss out when a female flight attendant is on an inflight PA, especially if she has an accent.
I’m a big fan of Lita’s massageclips on You Tube –I watch a clip at the end of every work day and she never fails to bring it on (though sometimes I am too relaxed to leave work!) But it only works when she is describing her massage technique – but not when she is doing a relaxation track. That’s the thing – vocals designed for relaxation seldom work for me – it is other things, explanations, demonstrations.
I’ve noticed people say it gets lesser as you get older. Well I am 45 and am experiencing it more strongly than ever this year. BUT I am currently taking anti-anxiety meds, and suspect these have enhanced the effect. Hooray!
We are so lucky to experience this! Right – am off to listen to Lita while I work... (it’s almost an addiction)
Oh, my God...I am 45 and I thought I was the only person in the world who experienced this. I call them brain orgasms. The blood rush, the euphoric, floating, detached, yet super-plugged in to The Way of the universe; the floating, precious, tingling, evacuation of mental and spiritual trash, brain rush - the best ones leave me so chill and sleepy that it, indeed, feels chemically induced. I can't believe I found you! When I was a small child, I would ask this one friend of mine to walk around my bedroom as though I wasn't there, touching and nosing around my things. I would lay on my bed and feel what I've just described. Also, being lightly touched, in a non-sexual way, as if exploring the topography of my skin, analytically did it. Also watching someone place items in a paper grocery bag does it, but they don't use them so much anymore and everyone is always in such a rush that it ruins the potential. I can't believe this is a common phenomenon with a name and a group! I will tune in from now on. Thank you!!
Yea I know this also :)).
I get it at random times. It seems to relate to anything and can intensify depending on circumstances.
Like once in the train when someone was eating an apple and the sound of the bites and chewing would totally space me out, and then the focusing on the temperature in the train being just on the warm side of perfect and it made me almost completely numb... It's better than weed or anything else I know.
I also get it with people typing, people talking and it somehow seems to be very amplified if there's a woman involved, or clean and pretty woman's hands for instance.
I get it with music from time to time and when sound switches fast from left to right ear (or vice versa).
Like many here, I find hair cutting to be an effective trigger. An advantage to being male is that the barber usually uses the electric trimmer around the edges and neck, which I've always found reliable as a source of tingles. A hot towel shave is also tingly.
One thing I haven't seen anyone mention is an experience I got into as a child, looking out the back door at heavy rain. Our back yard and those of the neighbours had a variety of different objects for the rain to fall on, making intermittent noises each on its own timetable - systematic, but unpredictable.
This may be why videos wear out: just as humour is based on a sudden resolution of one interpretation of the world into another, tingles appear to rely on an unrequited desire for pattern resolution. As long as your analytical mind is distracted looking for the resolution of a pattern, your artistic mind is free to float. If you memorize a pattern through too-frequent viewing, your analytical mind will lose interest in it.
I have thiiiisss feeeeling!!
It's not sexual at all just relaxing and good feeling idk. I get it sometimes when I hear whispering or a person with a raspy voice!!! bomb ass feeling tinglyy
i've also experienced these tingling feelings. Thanks to YouTube, i can now find clips that i can enjoy mainly at night before going to bed. But the most stimulus sensation i've experienced was always during work, on a phone call mainly dealing with customer service (with mostly females)and typing is involved. Good thing is that it feels soo daym good to the point i almost fall asleep and hoping to stay in that moment for long time. Bad new is a phone call must end at one point, and sometimes i had no idea what happened or what the call was about LOL! many times i had to ask the representatives to repeat the problem, which is kind of embarrassing. In fact, i just had a phone call with a customer service girl but very short. I chased it by another call but nothing happened *sigh* wish i can control these brain activities.
I've had this all my life and oddly enough I'm a musician. I get it when someone combs my hair, cuts it, to music and to people whispering. I suggest checking out some of the whispering channels on Youtube if you want a hit of this. I also get it in places like the doctor's or dentist when they are concentrating on me and I watch what they're doing with fascination. It's never been a sexual feeling, maybe that's because I've had it since I Was little and didn't know what sex was, I don't know. It's more of a normal sensation to me such as feeling cold or warm, I never thought anything of it. But recently I was wondering what it was called then wondered why nobody else seemed to know what it was when I had always thought it was standard. Found this blog and happy it actually does exist haha!
Wow. I can't believe I found this, I had no idea anyone else got this. Not sure why but it didn't occur to me that it could be a 'thing' that others get. Only reason I searched for it now is cos I just got it again, first one for a while.
The main trigger for me is vibration! If I can feel someone doing something then it sets it off. I also find that if I am tired to begin with then it helps trigger it. The one about having your hair washed by someone is definitely up there as a trigger for me too.
I remember when I first got this when I was a kid at school, I was feeling the vibration of a kid colouring in a book through his desk.
I clearly remember it being the first time ever, I wasn't scared or anything, but wondering what the hell it was and then just immediately putting it on the pile of all the other stuff I didn't understand about life cos I was a kid.
I got it just now cos a guy was opening and closing a filing cabinet looking for something. It hasn't entirely gone away yet but it's not as intense as the first 30 seconds anymore.
I WISH I knew how to provoke it! I sometimes get it when my girlfriend fingers through my hair and says I have dandruff, so basically I stopped washing my hair so she keeps up the curiosity. I should really tell her.
I think i have got some interesting theory .
According to it , has anyone thought which i think its common among AMSR Sensors or Person experiencing ASMR, that is we all are very spiritual and gentle in nature. we often remain calm in many agitated situations. We are very spiritual. If i am right, then the feeling which we are experiencing is some sort of chakra or chi or maybe some type of physical energy that we can manipulate all round of our body from our will. The most common example of this is when we think of Chinese monks or or any other martial art user . They say that they use their chakra or chi to exert pressure or force to counter the force of the impact of any physical attacks like punch, kick or from any other tool. The difference is that those monks learn to generate that energy but we guys generated that energy naturally or by accident or by that videos you guys are talking about. Well, i am not saying its a holy power or something but it can be some type of physical energy or heat .
What about you guys ?? What do you think about that ?
It may be matter of discussion , I guess .
shalom everyone
my experience with this sensation began when i started to listen to the sermons of brother william marrion branham, a mighty preacher and prophet 1909 to 1965 he preached a sermon called "souls that are in prison now"
i continued to have this tingling over my head and my research of photographing the supernatural led me to have a picture taken above my head and to my surprise a zoomed in process identified this prison where-in souls were hemmed in a valley surrounded by what looked like demonic creatures - this is weired but the images i zoomed into revealed the souls in prison - anyone interested can email me ptrck_lxndr@yahoo.com for these photos - i know the process of revealing what G-d wants you to see...all you out there who felt this tingling send me a photo just above your scalp area - taken when you feel this tingling and i will return my findings...i think i have an idea of why its happening to us...
I am so glad to have found this website! I never knew this was an actual phenomenon. I used to get it much more when I was a young man, watching someone next to me slowly, quietly leaf through a rice-paper hymnal in church services at school. My perspective almost zoomed in to that stimulus to the exclusion of all others. It is intensely pleasurable. It usually has to be quiet, and whispering as well as watching someone massage or getting a massage bring it on strongly. I am straight and like women but being in close proximity to and watching young men my age speak with their mouth full or eat food, especially with lots of lip-smacking, loud crunching, mixed with the inhalation/exhalation sound of air passing over the food in the mouth, finger sucking, rubbing hands briskly to get rid of crumbs, and just general eating noisiness brings it on VERY intensely for me and in the cases of young men eating will give me an instant erection. In fact these episode can be so intensely pleasurable I have playlists of loud crunching/eating noises on my iPod, but I have to be sure it is male, otherwise it doesn't work at all! It was pretty awkward trying to explain it to my friends when these noises came on shuffle one time!
the entire time ive been reading other comments here ive been feeling the buzz. ive had it as far back as i can remember and im now 33 though i cant recall my first episode. it starts like a wonderful vibration halo that works its way down from the top of my head to my brainstem to my shoulders n spine down to my calfs sometimes if its powerful enough to get that far. Bob Ross HAS also been a trigger. He's so calm n relaxing and soothing. usually its a super nice elderly stranger that triggers it just by talking. the most powerful episode i had was in 4th grade listening to a pastor talk at church. sometimes he would pause,,, and it was like his lips had been stuck together. when he resumed talking his lips parted with a sticky smack sound. (it should have creeped me out, but it just triggered the buzz way hardcore). i was sitting on the outside of the pew already feeling the tingle and from the back of the church an elderly women was walking up front to take communion. i didnt see her coming but as she got next to me she stopped just for a moment and gave my shoulder a light pinch, just a silent hello. when i looked up at her she was smiling down at me (like she knew i was already feeling it). with me already buzzing from the pastor and then the double whammy of the shoulder pinch from the smiling lady, my brain almost exploded. to this day i can think back to that and get the feeling all over again, only not as powerful. i dont think that she actually knew what i was feeling but sometimes i think about The Shining when they first arrive at the hotel and are getting the tour from the elderly fella and he knows that Danny has the shining too because he also has it himself. blahblahblah thats just me. like i said, my sister gets it but neither was of us knew the other had it until one night a few years ago we just started talking about it. up until that night we both just assumed as individuals that we were the only person on the planet that had these experiences. im so glad other people get to feel it and i hope research on this can be done. i also agree that it is an undercurrent of love and niceness generated from the trigger person. Thanks everybody, hope u all feel it again soon
Both my younger sister and i have these experiences too bad my older brother doesnt im so happy other people know of this and can feel it it doesnt seem fair that only some can get this sensation i wish i could produce it in pill form so everybody could feel it
I get this all the time. I've looked for a scientific explanation for it for years with no luck. I wish someone could do a study on it so I could try to bring it on more often. This feeling is better than drugs. It rivals orgasm, but it longer and non-sexual in nature.
I've had this since I was very little, the most powerfully when the nit nurse used to check our heads once every few months, and whenever a librarian would give us a tour and talk in hushed tones about the dewey (sp?) system of filing books. Once I had an Indian head massage and nearly took off. I've been thinking about getting another one recently, just to see if I can have this feeling again. I get it at the hairdresser too but different people have different effects in that regard. One of the girls who washes hair at the salon I use is also trained in shiatsu massage and it's incredibly intense when she does it. The biggest trigger for me these days is a certain taxi driver who takes me home from work occasionally - he has a very slow, soft voice, I could listen to him for hours. There's also a tv chef called Nigel Slater who does everything very slowly and deliberately and it happens when I watch him.
Humm i have those feelings that means i have this rare disease. :)
I've discussed this feeling g with mmny of my friends. some look at me like I'm dumb but I always knew I wasn't pulling this out of my ass. only one other person knew what I was talking about
I've been having these feeling in my head for a long time, I can't trigger them myself (what I know of, yet) , I get it at random. It often comes when I think about nothing, or if im not aware of that I'm thinking, It's really hard to explain, Im not sure that im a type A och B ...
I know what you all mean by watching someone do a task or someone is trying hard to satisfy you etc.. I love the feeling, but I often encounter it when Im having a hard time in life, or experiencing strong emotion, or if im self critic myself and experiencing an "Aha" moment.
The feeling is vibration in the back of my head, either in the whole head or left/right side och the back brain, it feels orgasmic and I have always reffered it to Healing in some sort, it feels like my brain is healing.
I have also read that it can be spiritual, like the CROWN CHAKRA is open or if you are near a SPIRITUAL AWAKENING/KUNDILUNI.
Thank you for the information! Until a few years ago I thought I was the only one who experienced this, since then I have discovered the asmr/whisper community on youtube and my eyes have been opened up to the tons of people who share this feeling. I'm so addicted to voluntarily triggering my asmr by watching videos geared toward my triggers!
hi guys i am from india ..
i also had this feeling for 5 years . Although before it happened spontaneously but i think i can trigger it by myself and can prolong it at my will...
i generally trigger it by meditation .
it gives me good feeling and increases my concentration .
Although tingeling effect is quite something i appreciate because i think it makes me gentle sometimes .
you know after all these years .. i am 20 now ... i think this is good thing ..
i don't know about you guys but it makes me feel positive .
Does anyone else with ASMR have certain sound or sights that BOTHER them? There are a few things that I absolutely can't stand. Like, if anybody near me puts anything cloth in their mouth, the sound of it against their teeth and even just looking at it makes me gag, and don't even mention cloth in MY mouth, even just thinking about it is making me slightly nauseous... There are some others too, just wondering if it is related or something completely different...
Wow! I'm amazed at this thread... I thought I was the only person in the world who experienced this! My trigger is when I watch someone concentrate on doing something, especially taking things apart or building things. I also get it when I watch people cleaning something (wiping or mopping). I've only told my sister about it and she did not get it at all hahaha... This is a much more common condition than I thought it was! Thanks for the article!
I get it when a female co-worker whom I share an office with eats crunchy chips. very intense and I don't even like her.
Just had another hour of euphoria and just thought I'd look up the symptoms. I am coming 54 and have had this gift since early childhood and can induce it at will which is wonderful. Prolonged bouts induce the cool tingly sensation down the body to arms and legs, get goose bumps too. I've never spoken about it except to my kids who unfortunately do not seem to have the ability, never found anyone else who's had it. I had a really weird episode when shopping before Christmas, I found myself starting up a 'rush' as I term it and when it was in full flow it felt like I had grown to giant size and was walking through streets filled with dwarves, quite bizarre. Had some interesting episodes when I was a kid too. Have always thought I was a bit nuts which I probably am, sure the wife thinks so!
I get this sensation ALL the time
Even thinking about gives me that tingly feeling, I never knew how to describe it and I've never really talked about it. When it's gone I feel empty though :/ Pretty much anything triggers it, especially reading or listening to something
I'm glad I found this webpage! I'm sure if what I have is ASMR, but if any of you could confirm what is I would be very happy! So here's my story:
A couple months ago, I started watching these youtube videos from a channel called RRcherrypie. Basically, he takes these japanese DIY candy food things and makes them. The videos are extremely relaxing, and the only sounds are usually the crinking of the plastic packages, and light scraping noises when he mixes things up. I noticed that when I watched these and listened to the sounds, I got these tingly shudders going all throughout my body. Not my head, but my back and sometimes my arms. I looked up videos similar to his and noticed on some of them in brackets it read ASMR. So I looked it up, and came to this webpage and totally related. Like it said above, I always got those rippling tingles whenever I went to get a haircut, and whenever my mom would brush my hair, I'd get them. I also get them when I watch people draw, cook (calmly, not restaurant type cooking)and sculpt, Also, when a teacher is reading and making those lovely page turning noises.
I was Bob Ross. It's a feeling that makes me so relaxed that sometimes I get upset when it goes away.
Thank God..I thought I was alone. this was my first time looking it up. I honestly didnt think that i would get any answers or anything at all similar to the way i feel. The video of that artist really triggered mine when i was younger. I'm at the age of 19 now and they continue to occur..during food network channels and new people i have to associate myself with at my job. I feel so much better. thankyou so much
What triggers it for me is the part of the movie in i-robot when dr calvin is checking out will smiths injury and she goes all the way up his arm and onto his chest
I thought everyone had this from time to time! It's usually triggered for me by pleasant nostalgia or especially someone doing something nice for me or softly touching my hair or scratching my back. Recently I got tingles from a hand massage from a pretty British girl and felt an awesome light-headed euphoria.. and I'm also an artist/musician.. wow so many similarities we all have! I also get ASMR when I talk to people who are very in-tune with their spirit and just emit pure good energy. I know that last sentence makes me sound like some trippy hippy and would somehow not hold up in the "science world" but hey: ITS REAL. People emit energy. The strongest I ever felt it was in San Francisco after meeting a young woman from Africa who was there with a dance team but stranded and hardly knew English. She walked up to me sparkly and bright eyed (no, not on drugs) just to chat while I was waiting for a friend outside their apartment. She wasn't asking for money or sympathy or anything, but just to talk despite her being broke and stranded away from home, and having just been let out of the hospital due to an attempted rape the night before that led her fighting for her life- and the guy even bit off the end of her pinky before she could escape! It looked gnarley! But the strangest thing was that this woman was so bright and had such a positive outlook, and wanted to wish me a good day and even prayed for me in her language! I should have been praying for her! While talking to this most beautiful of women I had the strongest uplifting ASMR I've ever had in my entire body and kept glowing the rest of the day. When my friend came out, she was entranced by the woman's healing power too. We couldn't stop talking about how wonderful the feeling was after she left and how pure and saintly she was. I have met other positively charged beings that gave me pleasant tingles on my scalp before, but this woman was lightyears beyond, positively charging my entire body with the feeling. I hope to meet that woman again one day or at the very least to someday emit even just a bit of the type of good vibrations that woman projected. ASMR is why I believe in the human soul. It's your soul that tingles when you get that great feeling!
Lulu, don't beat yourself up about this. Most people regard it as a gift to have this phenomenon. I can't really grasp why you hate it so much. Sometimes I think it's the one thing in this world that I really cherish above everything else.
I can cause this feeling consciously
I just realized I have this stupid disease and I hate it its so annoying is there any cure because it annoys me so much I feel like smashing my head. I'd rather feel happiness than stupid ASMR
I'm an extremely high acheiver and so its very very hard for me to relax. however, i've had amsr or whatever ever since i could remember (sometimes making school pretty weird for me, especially if the teacher is talking slowly or telling a story) I always thought that it was some crazy thing that only i had, but whenever i feel calm (which is rarely for me) I get hit by the tingles, as well as if i hear a story or passage (especially ones that i can easily visualize) thanks for the article, it made me realize that i'm not a freak haha!
I had never really though too much about why I got this until I came here, and It is good to know I am not the only one in the world :). I would never tell my family about this, but it helps me explain why this happens to me and how I feel afterwards (generally a bit irritable, especially if the sensation is interrupted). Thanks for making this page, it has really helped.
Great article! I'm 30 and I remember having this feeling ever since I was a child. It usually happens in reaction to certain songs, or when people play with my hair. However, for the past few months I have started to feel it when studying or reading articles and to be frank, it is becoming very annoying as it prevents me from concentrating, so I have to keep taking quick breaks. Is anybody else going through this?
Wow this is crazy. I’m 17 and really just found my ASMR. My triggers are different then most but the outcome is beyond amazing. My trigger I most commonly use is being in a completely dark room lying down with earphones and music. Usually fast past music such as dubstep only makes the experience super powerful. Also i am an aspired fantasy author so when imaging about it while with the music creates amazingness. This can last for as long as I concentrate but I never do more than 10 min. it always starts with head then back. But if it’s really good it will crawl up to my cheats and then waves go up and down in my body, it’s so unreal.
Some other triggers are mostly random that all have to do with high emotions that are typically good
BTW, has someone thought that this can be more common, or more noticed between man, becouse they have much more hair in the back or chest, as it is related to piloerection?
Today at work I thought about that feeling. At home I started listening to a "Virtual haircut" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUDTlvagjJA) and somehow found a board on reddit called ASMR. I was like, wtf does that mean? So I google it and bam ASMR ASMR ASMR all over my head. I seem to be able to trigger it by just thinking about it. I'll follow this blog. Thanks :D
Huh, this was the exact explaination i was looking for. Ive always had that feeling when someone draws on my hands or paints my face, as well as when someone verbally quizes or interviews me. Very odd...
I found your blog by accident. I had Googled as to why I get the chills when people talk. I'm sitting and listenting to my daughter talk in a low voice, while typing on her keyboard, both which send my head into a spinning euphoric happy place. I tickle my arms, just to scratch it. I love my hair to be played with. So many of these match up...I even get mad when my husband stops playing with my hair. :) It just feels good. I suppose you understand. I always thought I was a bit odd-but this makes me feel normal and even unique. Thanks!
I am 14 years old and definitely have had this as far back as I can remember. It used to happen so easily when I was a younger kid, and I'd try to explain it to my mom and I remember saying something along the lines of "like a halo had come to rest on my head and moves down", now I usually only get little tingles in the crown of my skull. I am a painter, and I recently started taking classes for oils, and whenever my soft spoken female instructor would lean over to make minor adjustments on my canvas, I get the major tingles. I am wondering though, I was one of those down to earth nature obsessed kids and had it often, and now that I'm older and unfortunately more sucked into a technological world I get it less. Connection? Don't know.
I've also got another unnamed feeling, if you're even read this comment.
When I wall into places with deep spiritual connotations such as a church or a cathedral, or old places, or sometimes even just places I haven't been in a while, my head sort of stops I guess and there's this almost bass-y pulse. It's even harder to describe than this tingly head thing. Anyways. Thanks for the time, if you bothered.
Much love,
Bunny
The article you wrote was so touching and gentle, I started ASMR right away. :)
I'm almost sure this is what I have.
I think this is a feeling of love. You never ASMR at people killing each other. It's the physical realization of love. I'm just... astonished. I hope science will pick up on this one!
I get it from listening to old people or smokers. I've experienced it since I was a kid. However, I also have vasovagal syncope, and the last time it happened, I almost lost consciousness. I wonder if there's a correlation between ASMR and heart rate/blood flow. I do get numbness in other parts of my body when it happens.
I think it's so weird that there are commonly-recognized triggers. I have also felt like that while watching a woman go through her purse, and that others have reported the same trigger makes no sense to me.
I have this all the time & have since I was a child. Finally, someone else knows what I'm talking about!!! Now that I'm older, it comes alive in my sex life as well. Anyone else experience that?
I've been experiencing it since childhood, the interesting thing is until I started listening to whispers on youtube I thought it was very common and everyone had it from time to time, it's just not talked of, but the more I look into it the more I realise it's not the case.
Another thing I have noticed is that the more I try to cause the feeling to appear by watching or listening to things that cause it, the more difficult it becomes to get it, not really sure why...
One specific scene where this happens to me is the Ollivander's scene in the first Harry Potter movie. When he's in there getting his wand, every time! I replay the scene sometimes just to get the feeling.
I have experienced this for as long as I can remember. There are many different triggers from the sound of chalk on a blackboard to watching someone paint or write. When I experience the sensation I never want to it to end. The euphoric rush is so sudden but so pleasurable. I'm glad there are other people out there who can relate.
I can not believe this is actually a real thing. Am 25 n until this day thought I was the only 1 n quite weird. I get it wen people talk mostly at work n show me how to do things on the computer. But it's happened for aslong ad I remember at school when teachers were talking
Same,same. I'm a 59 year old woman. Have had since childhood and describe as an enormously pleasurable tingling of the brain. Remember being about four years old and in church...watched another little girl intensely shining a small gold box. Her concentration and devotion to getting every scratch out of that shiny box was the first time I noticed that fantastically nice feeling. Everytime she would stop and look at me the feeling would go away and I'd want to cry. She'd resume and the lovely feeling would return. As an adult the feeling comes on again when I watch someone doing a task intensely- scrubbing/polishing a floor, painting. I can bring it on at will recalling the experience but not as intensely as watch an activity. Gosh- can't believe this is a phenomenon others share!
Great article!
I have a YouTube channel dedicated to ASMR sounds: http://www.youtube.com/user/Livtonoid
I´ve had this since childhood and never thought anyone else had it. Its so hard to explain and my triggers are weired
1. basicaly when someone teaches me something
2 really strong when some one with a foreign accent takes great pains to explain somthing to me !! That I ALREADY KNOW!
I smile and nod with my brain tingling away not wanting them to stop.
and 3. For example if a sales person is trying hard to sell me somthing i know i wont buy.
It seems the trigger is linked to a kind of attention I receive .
Never bothered to explain it to someone else just googled it now on a whim as was very pleased to find ´I´m not alone
I have been having this feeling too, it happens when someone i don't usually know or talk to does something nice for me. It always makes me feel good
I get this now and again. I never discussed it with anyone but because I found this site I mentioned it to my wife thinking everyone got it but she looked at me like something was wrong with me. I do have this worry that either a) I'm physically broken or b) mentally broken.
wow ive been experienceing this since i was 8 and i never thought anything of it untill now but i looked at the causes and there the same that cause me to feal the tingleing thanks for posting this
I get this feeling and it is very much, as you describe, a head orgasm. I discovered that the sound of turning pages is guaranteed to make my head numb (more pleasant than a xanax or muscle relaxer) and my eyes blur. The crisper the pages the better! I have several movies with "page turning" scenes queued up on my DVR, I watch them just before going to sleep. Just today I found numerous audio-videos of this sound on youtube. This is a shared guilty pleasure!
Oh and I also do find I get goosebumps when this happens as well. And usually when I listen to Bob Ross, or specific friends reading to me, or whisper videos, I tend to have a more intense feeling when the volume is a bit lower. Loud enough that I can hear it, but still somewhat quiet. The feeling is like a wave, in my head and neck, and kind of feels like my brain shrinks for second, thats how I used to describe it anyway haha. Touch occasionally triggers it.
Wow! I had no idea there was actually a name for this. I remember when I was younger I would play school with my friends. I was always the teacher so I could make them be quiet and do work. I always got these tingling feelings in my head from the silence in the room. Soft voices, a light tickling, the silence of a room and massages always gave me this feeling. And let me tell you, its very addictive. Youre missing out if you dont get this feeling.
So neat to find this! I've never known how to describe it and it's happened my whole life. For me it kicks in at times when something really piques my interest. Doesn't seem to have an aural cue.
I get these when someone is concentratimg really hard or talking in a soft vo.ice
From what I can recall I have been able to control this sensation since puberty around age 11(26 now). Throughout the years I've actually learned to increase the intensity, duration and frequency of the sensations but they are also triggered by external sources from intense pleasurable sensory signals from great music , favorite food, etc...
Not sure if it's linked to brain development, since the control manifested with around puberty. From my personal searching through the web and medical books, I always thought the sensations where caused by a controlled response of electrical signals sent to the pituitary gland to release endorphins via the bloodstream into the brain and spinal cord causing the wave like sensation.
On a side note I was wondering if anyone else get goosebumps sometimes with the sensations. I thought they were both related because the electrical signals would continue throughout my body causing the small muscles around the hair follicles to contract. Out of curiosity could ASMR have another group type? I am able to control the sensations in almost any environment unlike type a group but I am also prone to uncontrolled triggers as in type b group from external sensory stimuli.
I only get it when I am touched. But i have experienced this since i was a child. So spooky!
First off, I wanted to mention that I am currently in my third year of medical school, and that I'm hoping as my education continues I may be able to help shed some more light on this topic (since it appears that this sensation is not a major subject of research in the medical field).
I've experienced this feeling for as long as I can remember. Up until recently I was under the assumption that this was a common experience for everybody. Then a couple months ago, I happened to mention it to my girlfriend while we were watching a person draw... She (a Neurology Graduate, and also medical student) said she had never experienced this feeling, nor heard of anybody with similar experiences. This is when my interest in the sensation heightened...
Following days of research, my intrigue peaked as I realized that there is an entire online community discussing this phenomenon, yet there are essentially no questions really being answered. It would be great if a proper scientific investigation was done, but as the author of this page suggested, this is simply not a "medically significant" issue. And although I am very interested in the matter, I agree that it is much better to focus scientific efforts on finding new treatments/cures for diseases like Alzheimer's or cancer.
But with that said, this phenomenon still interests me and I don't see why we still can't ask questions and look for answers in our own personal time. Thus, one of my main questions is about this community. As far as I know, we really have no idea how large this population of "experiencers" even is... Or what we have in common. An example would be to ask: do any of you ever experience 'unpleasant feelings' while watching people perform tasks? Personally, I sometimes cringe when I hear or see dry hands rub on paper (as odd as that may seem). Now if a lot of us have these factors that make us cringe -- almost like an opposite sensation to the one we are all talking about -- then we might gain a bit more knowledge on this whole situation. But please don't give common experiences, such as nails running across a chalkboard.
That is just one very specific example and maybe it doesn't apply to anybody. But these are the type of investigations we need to make. What about genetic components? Has anybody found family members with similar experiences? Personally, I asked my parents and they said they 'kinda' know what I'm talking about, but I'm worried this is being confused with the common sensation often known as "chills" or "goosebumps" (which seems to be way too frequently mistaken with the unique sensation we are talking about here). But anyway, I know this has gone on way too long and most of you likely said "Too long, didn't read," and I don't blame you. I just figured I would throw this out there for the individuals who are genuinely intrigued by this "unknown feeling" and want to take a scientific approach at exploring it. There are many more questions that I would like to ask right now, but I believe this post has gone on long enough...
Just food for thought.
Cheers!
Funny how I've got this my whole life without knowing what it was. I tried to look for some information about this in my native language (Spanish)but didn't find a thing. Thanks a lot for sharing this information, it's really interesting.
I've gotten this my whole life. I'm dyslexic, suffer from anxiety problems and also sneeze at the sun lol. I get this experience also when watching snooker on tv.
bob ross
snooker
a softly spoken person talking
I started meditating a few years ago, I can also induce it by breathing now or 'omming' and chanting mantras calmly.
I actually looked into it ages ago, and I found out that it was triggered by things that represented people in safe situations. soft spoken but it has to be confident and clear - no danger. someone drawing, painting, etc - no danger. something being done very slowly or perfectly - no danger. I have a feeling it has something to do with people who suffer with anxiety and their minds creating a trigger of sorts for a short-cut to full level relaxation.
omg!!! I have also been getting this my whole life. With voices, getting my hair washed and cut at the salon and when someone whispers in my ear or a cat purrs in my ear it's like overload!!!!
Yeah, I get this. Haircuts are a trigger. I've always thought it sort of had to do with maybe being taken care of - sort of like a baby and feeling all is well type of thing. Like sometimes being at a doctor or like I said a haircut. I was at the Vietnamese restaurant a while back and ordered a Vietnamese coffee. The server came and prepared it in front of me and I got it. I said to my friend "Hey that was kind of nice." He smiled and shook his head and said "Yeah, kind of like a haircut".
I would get this feeling too! When someone had a soft voice or when I would get my hair cut, or a gentle touch. And if it was from someone speaking, I would just daze off and enjoy the sensation my brain would get without even paying attention to a single word they were saying. But now, I get them much more intense. Like, it's actually crazy. My boyfriend raped me and tried to kill me two months ago so I was very traumatized by that. But now, when I have sex I get this CRAZY SENSATION in my brain. It's actually soo strong. I've always gotten those sensations from soft voices, gentle touches, haircuts, etc. but I never ever got them from sex. I'm not sure if this is related to the trauma, but it's the most amazing feeling ever. And I just can't stop thinking about it and want to do it all the time because of that amazing feeling in my brain. I never ever got this intense sensation in my brain during sex before that traumatic event. So I don't know what is really going on here or if I'm going to become addicted or what...
I've had this my whole life. I also have epilepsy and am definitely right-brained, creative and empathetic (perhaps overly so). I'm not complaining though, lol!
This is very interesting to read. I remember this all started when I was little. I used to crinkle up plastic or paper and enjoy the sound it made. In fourth grade, I'd purposely sit next to another person during reading time to hear her whisper and read to herself. I also remember in high school I'd enjoy going to the library just because the sounds of people typing on the keyboards and turning pages was very relaxing. I'm glad to know that other people have this too.
Male, 29, East Asian. I felt some brain feelings when I listen some kinds of sounds since young. I curioused what is this even recently. But I surprised that I found so many ASMR videos on Youtube yesterday. Now I believe most people are feeling ASMR.
I am so happy I decided to google "tingle head page turning" - I too have been living with and enjoying this tingling in my head for as long as I can remember. It came about just thinking about it as I was reading the posts. Triggers for me include: someone playing with my hair or drawing on my back - but only certain people! Listening to pages of a book being turned, and being very near certain people.. Or someone showing me how to do something.. even hearing some people breathe or talk on the phone.. I always thought I was alone, but was never sorry about this thing that happens - it is one of my favourite feelings!
only just started getting this feeling a couple of weeks ago but i think i used to get something like it when i was a kid but now if i think about it i can make my whole brain vibrate in waves top to bottom and back up for about 30 it feels very relaxing though its a bit strange at first
I've felt this before and I never understood what it was. For me, the triggers are usually whispering and often eating sounds. I might have felt it while someone was drawing on my arm, too.
I've experienced this all of my life and never until now had a term for it. Here are some of the trigger for me:
- Informational videos and infomercials about hair care, spa treatments and cosmetics (voice has to be right)
- Some people talking on the phone if they have the right voice, especially if they do a lot of whispering or speaking softly
- Having my hair brushed or played with
- Watching someone draw something on a piece of paper
- Hands-on hand claps that school kids do ("crack an egg on your head, let the yolk run down".."spiders crawling up your back")
One of my strongest memories of this was in about 3rd or 4th grade, when we were facing towards the front of the classroom watching a video or something, my friend who sat behind me liked to poke at my shirt along my back. I could not concentrate on whatever was going on due to the senstation of her light touch on my back.
I'm so glad I'm not alone on this tingling sensation. I've had it since I was a child,I'm 20 years old now. Like one person said, I ALSO watched The Joy Of Painting with Bob Ross and it would trigger the sensation, I guess that's where it all started. But for the past year or so I would go to YouTube and watch whispering videos or silent unboxing videos, which are my main triggers. True story, when I was young[er] I would watch a whole movie just to wait for the scenes that trigger the sensation lol but one of my weirdest triggers is watching Emeril's cooking show and he would put me to sleep. A few months ago I asked my mom and brother about the tingling sensation and they said they've never had it or don't know what I'm talking about. I guess it's only a select group of people that gets this euphoria. YAY for us lol! I have so much to say/ask but so little time so I'm bookmarking this page to find out more about this.
omg i love that feeling. my 2 month old son has been really grumpy and restless today but when i played him the swedish lady clip, he just stopped crying and his eyelids got heavy. i guess he takes after me :-)
I have experienced this before, but I had no clue what was going on. I thought I was having an anxiety attack. When people are behind me, I get the tingly feeling all over the back of my head. I used to think it was just paranoia, but how can that be if I don't even see them - I FEEL them. It happened at least five times within a couple of hours today, so I decided to get some answers. I think that some of the reasons you listed for having the "tingles" may have been factors in the repeated feelings I had today. My friend and I were in a public place, listening to a stranger talk as we typed, so I think it is safe to assume that I have this condition.
I have this, and I clearly remember the first trigger in my childhood when I was about 7. I was playing Stratego with a girl and she was considering her every move very meticoulous. A tingling started in my head and I just went with it. I'm 30 now, and I still get it.
Discovering this site is simply great - my curiosity, to say it very mildly, has been evoked. But i'm also left unsatisfied that no real research has been done - I mean, this by far outshines all drugs and anti-depressive medicine out there - there has to be a market for it!
These are just some of the questions I've been wondering about, please share your opinion or if you have a pseudo-theory.
- how many people have this, estimate? (like 1/1000, 1/100, 1/10 ..? I have a feeling it's quite many, but have honestly no idea. Also the sensation might overlap 'goosebumps feeling for something nice / not cold' which is not the same)
- Why is it elicited? What is the overall pattern - any evolutionary theories perhaps? I see abes carefully playing with each others hair, maybe it's elicited here as well ?
- Can anyone get this? - it seems that for a lot of people here, this has been triggered in their childhood, and then somehow the brain have tuned in on the sensation, a catalyst-pattern has been made somehow. So actually everyone are predisposed for obtaining it, and with just the right 'push' it is triggered - or are we just a group of special x-men?
Thanks all for sharing the experience, and thank you anti-valentine for making this blog.
I like to think of ASMR as my "spidey-sense" :) I didn't read through all the comments above, but I only get it involuntarily from certain physical stimuli, typically whispering or soft-speaking, eg listening to Bob Ross from the "Joy of Painting" TV series.
However, I feel blessed that I can also induce this feeling whenever I want, and without limit. I can't really describe how I do it, but I simply think about and "tell" my brain to release the feeling. I have no idea what's going on, but I've always imagined that it's beneficial to health since it's an incredible relaxant and melts away stress/tension.
I've always wondered if I was unique in this ability, and didn't know if it's been documented by others. Very glad I found this site. It'd be interesting to discover if people more predisposed to this have any similar characteristics within their body composition, such as elevated presence of certain chemicals in their blood, hormonal balances, etc.
hi i am 14 years old im pretty sure i have this because when ever a girl is texting/ typing or tapping finger nails its like my brain just zones out and pays attention to that
well that's not true entirely. I can stay in that state for several minutes but the first seconds are the most intense.
i knew i wasn't the only one:) my triggers are whispering, sign language and seeing someone doing something really slowly or gentle with their hands. Sadly the tingling only last for a few seconds. Great article btw :)
I'm not alone! I once told my friends about how I enjoy and get a buzz out if listening to intellectual conversations and they definitely didn't understand, oops! But this is so cool to know I'm not the only one. My triggers are detailed and well pronounced instructions and soft clear voices. I never knew why I would repeat clips and thought I was gonna have some freaky obsessive brain problem. Although this does frighten me a little, but probably as I am still figuring it out after feeling Ever since I was young. I will look into it more now.
Thank you for your article!
I have to apologise for my english beforehand - I´m from Germany so english is not my native language.
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Finally I know what is "wrong" with me :)
I used to go to the hairdresser twice a month just for this sensation!
Nowadays I also get it whenever I get my nails done and have to put them under these UV lights. :) I love this feeling. The only time I don´t like it is when someone is either reading the newspaper over my shoulder very close to my ear or talks very close in a whispering voice into my ear. This somewhat causes my eyes to water and makes the feeling quite unbearable. Did you experience something like that as well?
hey! Since you guys are like my new family, i need to ask for some advice. Should i make a youtube whispering channel? if so what kind of videos should i do?
Also just to let you know a little more about me im 17, i'm an aspiring cometologist and i'm compassionate. (tell me about your self)
Do any of you experience hallucinations at night?
Hi, I am 12 and I have this. Whenever someone is texting or there is a clicking noise it is as if my brain switches off except for one part, and keeps replaying this soothing sound!
You might be describing frisson, or "chills", Anon. Not sure, but it sounds like it. ASMR from music isn't impossible, but less common to achieve for most.
Sometimes it's hard to distinguish. :)
I get these feeling alot when listening to trance music like deadmau5 or kaskade....like a natural ecstasy haha... but it only lasts several seconds
I'm 57 and have experienced this sensation for most of my life. Listening to chewing gum on 'you tube' whilst l post this, nice to know i'm not the only one!!
I am so happy I'm not alone anymore. I was sitting in detention today after school and it was completely silent...except the kid behind me was chewing his gum and setting off my tingles the whole 3 hours. By far the best detention i've ever had. I have to say today is one of the best days for me personally in awhile. I never knew what was going on in my head until i got home from detention determined to find out what was "wrong" with me.
Aha! I knew if I googled the correct phrase that I'd find folks that experienced the same thing! I mentioned it on my personal blog a long while ago and none of my online buddies have had the sensation but I had a feeling that I wasn't the only one.
I went looking just now at work because someone in the cube next to me was ripping lots of paper and *tingle tingle tingle* Somehow I think it might make me look like even more of an oddball than I am at work to ask him to keep ripping paper. lol
You're welcome, sade. Welcome to your new family!
ive felt alone about this my whole life,
ive only told my mom dad and sister,
they have no clue what i am talking about but are fully supportive.
my triggers are people whispering,
particularly people whispering gibberish or whispering in another language.
I wonder if our personality traits are some what similar..
hmm it's pretty cool that im not actually alone. thank you so much for the info btw.
Ive always had this. As long as I could remember. I would always be tempted to fall asleep in school from all the sounds of pencils writing on paper, or the teachers soft speaking, and just hearing people breathe and cough and sneeze and clear the throat or scratch their arm. I always thought it was just me. Glad to know others have this tingling sensation in their head as well.
I have always felt a strange, pleasant tingling on the back of my neck just below my hairline occasionally, spreading from around the sides of my head down as far as my legs. I always considered it some form of a meditative state. I have almost always felt when learning something. In school I actually used it as a reference for when I felt I was actually learning vs not learning. I have experienced it more lately, I believe it is due to recent events allowing me to be more peaceful in genera, allowing me to feel it more. I have never discussed this feeling with anyone in any great depth, nor have I investigated it. I have always wondered what it is. It is a pleasant feeling, but usually passes within 15 minutes. It definitely happened more often when I was growing up but was never terribly common. It is nice to see others have a similar feeling!
i was put on zoloft recently and was afraid that i would possible lose this wonderful feeling...but if anything it made it better. maybe it really is the feel of chemicals releasing in your brain as zoloft aids with the making and releasing of seratonin. i dont care what asmr is caused by as long as i can go pretty much comatose when i see someone slowly turning pages of a book :)
all i can say is wow, i never knew that other people have this same sensation to certain things. I have always called odd for this but never really cared as long as long as someone draws a picture so i can hear it, or plays with blocks. the best ones are the unplanned ones though like if my dad just starts fixing something, or tinkering. my close friends and family think that its funny and a little weird that theses things relax me so much. but it gets really bad sometimes like during a math test hearing all those pencils scratching on the paper, and making taping sounds on the desk make me very relaxed and drowsy at the wrong time. I usually cant finish until everyone has left. so it does have its set backs, but all in all it is a great way to relax especially when u kno what sets it off, another thing is watching the show how its made. this is really interesting and i want to learnn more about it.
I have been having this feeling my whole life, for some reason I never thought to look into it...as it would come and go so quickly. I'm happy to know other people have it too. For me what triggers it varies a lot, sometimes it could come from someone installing something like cable or something(not specifically but something similar to that), or if someone is sitting next to me on a computer and slightly breathes on me, soft touch, or if I were to ask someone a question and they give a real, thorough answer, sometimes that triggers it. I don't think of it as a bad thing, in fact I think it's special.
I get this all the time when watching people. Especially watching people paint, work with their hands, etc.
this happens to me randomly when watching people do somthing or when they show me to do something. when it happens i love it and never want it to stop, it feels so good. ive always wanted to know what causes it
Also not saying that the craving necessarily implies a deficit of maternal attention in one's childhood.
Not to be reductive (I'm an ASMR "sufferer" myself), but it's the craving for the mother. Deliberate attentiveness/care taken with task or with you (mother's TLC), white (womb) noise found in whispers, popping/smacking/whistling in speech, fabric brushing in cloth-against-cloth or brush against canvas, industrial music, etc. (The video above is both.) Not knocking it... I need it, will never say no to it... but just what it is. Knowledge is good. Maybe even empowering.
I remember in kindergarten being taught by the teacher about "warm fuzzies" and "cold pricklies" and later in the year, when I experienced this "ASMR" event, I assumed I had experienced what was a "warm fuzzy"... For the longest time, I kept wondering if anybody else had experienced such phenomena and now I know that's it happens to others but it's pretty uncommon.
I get this sensation whenever a small miracle or spiritually important event occurs. To me, it is a sign to pay attention because something of significance is happening. It is good and positive. The more powerful ones affect my entire body. Thank you for your work in this strange and mystical phenomenon.
I would always get this feeling when someone physically touched my skin. I used to get my friends when I was younger to play with my hair or braid it, just to feel this head rush. I remember telling them I wanted a different style just so they would keep playing with my hair. haha. I also got it when I went to the hair salon, or if someone painted my nails, or if someone massaged my back. Even the slightest skin to skin contact would not only give me a head rush, but would give me chills down my spine that felt good. I also found out recently that watching massage videos with soft spoken voices and relaxing music gives me this head rush, as well as makes me tired. I also have Type A aswell, as sometimes just thinking of something, or being so relaxed, it would give me that tingly feeling in my head.
i've experienced sensations that match the descriptions of ASMR for many years, all my life i guess, usually passively (type B) and of various intensities. My own inference, which also maps onto lots of the comments, is that it is related to oxytocin release - something adaptive in the experience of being attended to, nurtured, and stemming from infancy in particular. Certainly i can also appreciate a more transcendent and 'oceanic feeling' interpretation too. In relation, through training in vipassana meditation, i am now able to induce type A experiences. I'm really fascinated by the experience and cultivate it with meditation, as well as attuning to sensations when they emerge spontaneously. Also great to come across this site and hope to learn more from peeps here!
I am now experiencing ASMR when listening to a specific Annie Lennex track, I have so far played it five times this morning. I think I am now engaged to Annie !!
And strangely while reading through these comments, the word sensillations triggered another one. Strange but true.
I think I need to focus on all the other possible triggers to see if anything happens. I think I am on a roll.
Jon, what you describe is known as Type A ASMR.
You thought or meditated on something and it triggered off ASMR, rather than relying on an external source. From what you've said it was likely an empathetic response.
Not uncommon. :)
I'm finding as I'm getting older I am getting more and now it's on a weekly basis- I also seem to be able to control it to a certain extent- prolonging the experience when it does occur unexpectantly- but also sinking into it in meditation and/ or in savasana pose in yoga. It seems that I get it more when I am having a good week with exercise and healthy food - 3+ times a week
Following on from my previous comments, this morning while making a cup of coffee I started to think about all the people that had made comments on this forum, and had an immediate ASMR experience.
Could this be my new trigger, or have I just made the correct decision.
You might want to add this to your list of possible triggers.
Hi everyone,
I have been having these sensations for only a few years, I am in my forties, and agree with many people on here that the sensations are not sexual, but I do undersatnd why some refer to them as head orgasms. They often start in my neck and cover the top of my head and then go down to my shoulders, if I think of my feet at this point then it seems to be there as well.
I get these sensations if I have helped someone in a difficult situation overcome their problem, usually when I am thinking about it at a later date.
I tried to look at it as though it was some kind of physical affirmation that the action I took was the correct one.
I had no idea others were experiencing the same feelings from other triggers.
I can usually repeat the sensation immediately after it happens by just thinking about the subject again, but it is usually weaker, and sometimes I have to wait for five to ten minutes before trying again.
And yes it is a real drag when I can't do it anymore. The experience is one of sheer happyness and wellbeing and I suffer with no negative side effects afterwards. Apart from craving for more, obviously !
Thanks for setting up this forum Andrew.
I have had this my whole life too and the few people I've told about it don't seem to know what I'm talking about. For me it can be totally non-sexual but also sometimes sexual.
Triggers have been others braiding each others hair or playing with my hair, or some show of friendship or affection between others or with me (usually something quiet and subtle).
I had it most strongly and for longer periods with my ex-bf. Just being with him or post-sex could do it. Sometimes I was also super turned on while it was going on, I dunno if they were related or just happened at the same time. I've only had it with one other guy (lover). With both of them I also got these twitches post-sex. I feel like it was definitely related to happiness. It's hard to describe except as this slightly high feeling with twitches in my brain that sometimes made me physically twitch. Has anyone experienced this? I don't understand it and I think it freaks out the guys a bit.
He broke up with me and recently when I was thinking about him possibly dating other girls I had the opposite of the brain-gasms. It was like this horribly tingling in the front of my brain. I also associate it with the color brown, whereas I associate the braingasms with yellow.
I think the ASMR is a seratonin rush of some kind, because I felt it the one time I did ecstasy.
I just got out of rehab from a suicide attempt and now I'm worried anti-depressants will prevent the ASMR. Has anyone gone on anti-depressants? Do they affect the ASMR?
I don't know if I should tell my psychiatrist about all this...I also feel like it's a sign of being in love for me because I only get it with guys I feel a strong emotional connection with, but I dunno.
You're welcome, Pete. You can call me Andrew, by the way. That's my real name. :)
THANK YOU Anti-Valentine!
I had this "brain orgasm" feeling for 30 years any time I heard a very feminine woman whisper lightly or lispily, and I never could figure out what exactly it was. I typed a couple of key words on Google on a whim yesterday and your site popped up.
Thank you for clearing this up for me!
Also thank you for the Audio Experiment! It worked like a charm.
I wouldn't say that, Mickle. We don't know enough about it to make a claim outright like that - that it's good or bad. We just assume that due to its pleasant feeling, that it's a good, even natural thing.
As we go along, we'll perhaps find out more about this phenomenon. I hope so.
Is this bad or something??
I cant believe i have just googled this and found im not the only one, thought i was a freak for years.eeeeeeeeeeeeek. I used to get it as a child when my Grama would use her tape measure to get my measurments when she knitted me a cardigan or when my mum used to check me for knits and concentrate really hard.
I have had this since I was a small child and have never found anyone else with it I am now 57 and I have had the sensation more frequently recently
It is triggered often by voices or by people showing me things or explaining how things work ....definitely not sexual and can be triggered by people who are otherwise annoying !
When I have the feeling it leaves me happy and relaxed and with a sense of well being
if anybody speak french, its better for me, because im from Canada(french part) and have this particular thing, you call ''asmr'', i would like to speak with you, because i think i have this same asmr, i can tell, half my body react, arm, hand, back and front body and part of my legs, i dont know what is it, but i like it, from when i can remember.
Please i would like to speak french with somebody, i fell like im the only one who fell that thing.
thank you.
email me at tesla1(@)videotron.ca
remove () from the email adress
Wow! I think I have this! these feelings have been progressing with me for over couple years now, and I think I relate much to the triggers and the symptoms you described. I think it's a very ecstatic feeling, but I don't know, I'm not sure about the accuracy of my feeling, but I sort of feel slightly sad or depressed while having it (sometimes) and it sort of feeling sad but you're not sad
I'm @Mamoudinijad on Twitter
Thanks a lot for posting this
This is an awesome site and project! I have have "the tingles" since i was a kid and can relate to what so many of you have said. And like others have said, it's not really sexual. It is very endearing and comforting to know that others experience this. These goosebumps occur not only in my head but arms, neck, and legs as well. It happens for me with some instructional videos and of people of either sex, kids or adults. It has also happened watching people concentrate, explain something, teach, color, etc. It happens especially watching someone play or act something out, such as when the kids on "Barney" set up a pretend town and act out various professions (again, in reference to kids this is NOT sexual, just endearing.) My biggest trigger is when people say something that is quirky or slightly out of sync. For example, when i was a little kid, i had brought some books with animal characters down to my Grandma's house. My Grandma's neighbors, and mutual friends of ours, were down at her house too. The neighbor woman, who's daughter is a little but younger than i am, was reading her daughter one of the books. There was a lot of love put in to it and they were both concentrating intently. The mom was pointing out the animals to her and said "Look, there's a dog...", but it was actually a bear. The ears were slightly longer so i guess that's why she thought it was a dog. I still find that cute til this day.
I have also gotten that momentary "impression" of quirkiness/cuteness without the tingles based on what somebody said or how they said it. I mentioned it to my brother one time but he didn't understand. He said "You mean you think it's cute?" I said "No i mean i think it's 'cute'".
The "impression" is hard to explain, with or without tingles. It's like you caught a glimpse of God.
Hey everybody.
Listen, I had to replace the video on this hub, seeing as it (Lita massage) wasn't working too well. The link was broken. So in its place is a recently recommended video that was posted on the Facebook group.
A bit random, I know. Let me know if it works. If it doesn't, I'll have to get another one, instead.
Bob Ross and wactching people shop...
I have wondered about this for ages! Getting hair washed and hair at a hairdressers, reading a letter or message of praise or affection from loved ones and friends, doing relaxation after yoga, listening to soothing voices are my triggers. If you've ever listened to Jonathan Cainer give a horoscope you'll understand the kind of voice.
The way I can describe it is as a tingling sensation in my brain, as said in this article, almost a "brain orgasm".
I assumed that everyone got this feeling and it's only now that I've decided to look it up I have realised that some people do and some people don't.
I've had this lovely sensation for as long as I remember.
Watching someone draw or write (especially if their attention is not on me), getting a hair cut and when I was a kid the noise of a vacuum clear brought it on.
Recently, while at a lecture, a cute geeky girl sat beside me. She proceeded to eat an apple very noisily. The noise made me so relaxed, I could have listened to her all day. Although the feeling is not at all sexual, I think if it were a guy munching on the apple, it would have annoyed me.
The biggest trigger for me is definitely getting a hair cut. A few years ago, the girl who was cutting my hair stopped every so often and lightly blew the cut hair away. This was so relaxing, just the memory brings on the sensation. I can actually use this memory and sensation to help me sleep!
Those lovely Asian massage videos also bring it on. I tried to explain the feeling (and video on my laptop!!) to my girlfriend but she didn't understand.
Have a look at the video link below. I'd be interested in seeing if this video works on anyone else. **NOTE on video** I am not at all endorsing/interested in strange alien cults...
Yeah I thought everyone got this feeling when they heard a peice of music that touches them or see something inspirational.
After I started meditating I found I'm able to do this at will, so anytime I need a boost, I just focus the tingling energy in the back of my head and down my spine.
Omg I've finally found people that feel this!!! The very first time I remember feeling this ASMR, as you call it, was 1st or 2nd grade, I was in class, everyone was sitting on the floor and a teacher called on a student to do something, I think arrange numbers in the correct order. THe numbers were posted on a wall with velcro, each one could be moved around. I remember she took a very long time, everyone was totally quiet, all I could hear was her slowly ripping off velcro and putting it on. Other set-offs have been someone standing close behind me and talking, some kid in class who had a deep voice and read outloud from a book very, VERY slowly and halting (aka he was a bad slow reader), gum chewing, I was getting change for someone at work recently and they were standing right beside me and folding their receipt up which triggered it, getting a haircut (I'm male, I get buzzcuts so it's very hands-on with my scalp). It's always the most amazing feeling. Im surprised i manage to function, my actions feel automatic while im under this state, and i really really dont want the feeling to ever end. I get that pulse in my head and it spreads down to my stomach, my breathing gets shallow and theres this light-tensing of my chest like its a little harder to breathe. And my gaze just locks onto whatever my eyes happen to be on at the time and i just let it flood over me. God it feels so good.
I have been looking for ages just to find out what this was, I thought there was something wrong with me, like I was also the only person experiencing this but then I found this! So thanks! I have told both my parents about it but they both just laughed and thought nothing of it. I tend to experience this with pretty much everything on that list
My friend was drawing my portrait 10 mins ago over the webcam and I got this.
I also get it when I hear someone speak in certain tone, do my hair or looking at someone do something very intensly.
Like so many others, until now I never found anyone who knew what I was talking about when I mentioned this (so I gave up asking). For me the feeling is to the side of the head, past the eyes (but sort of inside). What does it best is voices, soft-spoken and the sort that have a bit of a burr. But also descriptions in books of stroking, warm pleasant feelings, etc. Hence perhaps ironically I find reading this page gives me a moderate feeling.
Also stroking the skin behind the eyes, sometimes.
I've had this since I was a kid, mostly at the hair dressers or when a friend would comb my hair. It's so freakishly addictive! I still now get scalp massages which are a sure trigger for it :)
Just remembered another thing. A lot of times it is doctors (mostly male and kind of older) that do it for me. Whether it is me getting examined or just them talking or even watching them examine someone on a show it happens all the time (omg especially the ones with slightly nasaly and deep voices). Also, people who smack their lips (just a little bit) before saying something. XD
Oh wow. I never thought anyone else had this. It's not a bad thing (at least I don't think it is) though. It's such a great feeling I had for as long as I can remember. It's not as much getting my hair cut as it is when someone with a (most of the time) calming voice (for lack of a better term) talks. But then sometimes I end up not listening to what they're saying. Lol. It isn't always that. I remember going to the bank as a kid with my parents and hearing the clicking noise of the buttons and mouse and got the tingly feeling. And also lightly "tickled" in places like my cheekbone top or outer side of lower hip/upper thigh. I always thought I was the only person. Also, watching instructional videos like how to draw or something. Look up Drawing From Nature: How to Draw a Wolf on YouTube. It gave me that tingly feeling. I watch it often because of that. I would rather have this feeling than not. I feel special. Lol
You have no idea how happy I am to have found this site. I have been experiencing this my entire life without knowing what it is. I was never worried about it, so I never bothered looking into it. My main triggers are certain voices (often, soft-spoken and rich) and other types of soft, repetitive sounds (soft pencil shading paper, a highlighter moving across paper, a cicada in the distance, etc.).
I've been getting this asmr feeling for a long time but never known it had a name until a few months back. I always wondered why the sound of crinkling paper or plastic was so euphoric that it made me fall asleep. I thought everyone experienced it like me, but I guess not. We're special...
Left my last comment before reading everyone else's. Now I'll add a bit more. I have never done drugs, and never have more than one drink at a time when I occasionally have one. Nice to know I have been experiencing, for free and naturally, a feeling that so many people chase with drugs. My first memories of this feeling come from my mom doing my hair. As a Black little girl, this is a long and daily process, so I loved it. Also hearing my parents vacuuming the floor in another room triggered it. Music has always been a trigger, as well as certain sounds, many of the ones mentioned above. After reading all the comments, I realize that watching someone do something mundane is also a huge trigger for me. Sometimes I will put on certain music at night before I go to bed, and lie in the dark trying to induce the feeling. It does not always work, but most times it does. I am also amazed, as some of you, that not everyone experiences this. They don't feel this when they get a massages?! How sad for them. Now I'm going to go and ask friends and family if they have this. Thanks for starting this page and discussion.
I have experienced this sensation my whole life. I always thought everyone experienced it, but never had a conversation with anyone about it. Today I had to switch radio stations while driving because I blood pressure was going up listening to NPR and the discussions of Congress and the debt. So I switched randomly to a classical station and got that old relaxed, tingly feeling again. Feels great, but not great when you're driving! Got back to my desk and decided to finally look up what causes it. I was sure it was well documented, everyone experienced it, and that there was a real name for it. Who knew it was rare and relatively unknown?!
Your story sounds very similar, Mark! Welcome home:) I highly recommend the Facebook page!
After feeling a euphoric, tingling feeling in my head while my boss talked to me about something (I can't even remember what because I was so memorized by the sensation), I decided to Google it and found this page!
Like others have said, I thought what you call ASMR was normal - not that I've ever questioned anyone to see if they experience it - and was surprised to discover it isn't.
I am a Technical Writer and dabble in website/graphic design, so I guess you could call me creative which reinforces the statement you make in your article. I am also the type of person who is able to apply extreme focus to work tasks/games/TV/reading, almost to the point that everything else around me is blocked out. I guess you could also label me a dreamer. I also prefer my own company and I am very reserved around people I do not know but extrovert around those that I do. Are these traits common to other "sufferers" of ASMR?
I have experienced ASMR throughout my life. The majority of the time it is triggered from someone talking to me (in a particular tone), or when I get my hair washed/cut. Observing people doing something I consider complicated can also trigger it.
When experiencing it I feel like I am in a different "zone" to everyone else around me. I also feel a sense of clarity that allows me to make sense of any complicated or unorganized tasks I may be faced with.
I have taken a wide range of recreational drugs in the past (blame University for that) and only on a few occasions have they matched the euphoria I get from ASMR (although the sensations experienced were different). Please note: I experienced ASMR long before my drug "experimentation" so the sensation is not a side effect of using them!
The only negative side effect I experience following ASMR is slight lethargy.
Certainly this isn't any type of seizure. It's pure awesomeness. You aren't paralyzed to any extent. If you have no reason not to, you just choose to bask in it. :)
God. This is weird - I get this and thought everyone did but just asked my Boyd and he doesn't... Totally assumed this us why everyone likes massages. I LOVE them because if thus sensation & can get the feeling just from watching someone else get a massage. Even on tv. Admittedly I did think it was weird that I got it when watching a man in the Apple store carefully apply a screen protector to my phone....
wow, I found a website called soothetoob, and enjoyed it for the massage videos (so relaxing). I didn't understand all of the other videos--videos of random sounds and people talking. Well I watched one that had the sound of brushes on canvas and WOW!! That was the feeling I had been going after--a feeling I had known since I was a kid and my mom would brush or braid my hair. I have experienced ASMR all my life at various times but have never known why or what it was, but this makes it so much clearer to me! Thanks!
It sounds like a mild form of epelepsia?
silverraven1313 - have you joined the facebook "autnomous sensory meridian response" group? it's awesome:)
the only personal friend of mine that also has this is triggered, coincidentally, by classical music:) he plays the piano. sounds very similar to you:)
I've felt these sensations as far back as I can remember. I never knew it was an actual condition; my family and I just thought I was a little odd (they called it "tweaking"). My trigger is generally music, especially orchestral pieces. I play the violin and was in a chamber orchestra for years, so I guess I unknowingly sorrounded myself with endless new triggers. Also, I can generally bring on small "waves" by concentrating, but a full on experience usually comes from external stimuli. It's interesting (and comforting) to know that I'm not the only one experiencing this!
It happened to me after balling up fools on the court! Win the game and instantly a wave from the back of the head to the top, over and over then eventually dissipation. I always thought that it was the feeling of winning but now I know!
Thanks!
lol - how could i forget -- my all-time most guaranteed trigger for ASMR -- THE JOY OF PAINTING with BOB ROSS. just watched one on YouTube--still works after 30 years. lol
Oh, forgot to mention -- I LOVE getting my hair played with. My wife doesn't care for it at all, and she can't do it right -- it seems like a difference version of ASMR for me, but it's awesome nonetheless. Now that I think about it, my mom has always loved getting her hair / scalp played with / tickled -- she used to pay us for 15 or 30-minute sessions. lol. I'll have to ask her about this....
WOW!! Thank you so much for this site!!
The first time I experienced ASMR (that I can remember) was as a young boy, when listening to my uncle talk. Man was he boring--but that didn't matter. He talked very softly, slowly, and ALWAYS gave me this sensation--first a tingling in the scalp, a euphoric feeling, then I'm totally relaxed, and feel waves of it. He could also play the guitar and produce the effect. I didn't think much of it--as a young boy, I thought it was normal. But when I brought it up in conversation, I found no one knew what I was talking about. I stopped mentioning it--now I'm 35, continue to experience it from listening to someone speaking (I'm 100% heterosexual, but it's nearly always soft-spoken men who produce the effect), music (for me it helps for it to be live, and acoustic guitar seems to work best), and perhaps a combination of being hungry and intaking caffeine and a bit of fatty food -- this is actually what I was experimenting with when I thought, "hey, the world web internet computer web thingy has gotten pretty full--maybe i can find someone talking about it!" and BAM, here I am, literally crying tears of joy at the knowledge I'm not "weird"--or maybe I AM, and it's a good thing! I'm going to bring this back up with people -- having a term for it makes you sound much less insane! -- starting with my wife and kids and close friends. I'm going to find someone else who experiences ASMR (other than all of you internet people--I know you're not real. lol)!!
To me, it feels like a "natural high" that rivals Hydrocodone. I first googled euphoria and was disappointed in the wikipedia entry -- I think we should add an entry for ASMR on wikipedia -- and link it from the euphoria entry!
Again, thanks so much -- I would love to participate in some experiments to add my data point here and there:)
I get this feeling whenever I know someone is doing something for me. Like today I got subway and by just watching them make my sandwich gives me this warm tinglling feeling in my head.
I get this tingling feeling when someone scratches my head and I am on the couch. I also get it when I am in a march or when I am in front of a group who is waiting for me to speak.
Hello !
Wow this is amazing! I've been getting this sporadically for most of my life it seems. Like some, it seems to hit me most when I am very relaxed end even tired. People with very relaxed and soothing voices ( male or female but mostly female) really do trigger it for me, especially when they are speaking slowly in a relaxed manner. It also happens a lot , well you know when people sometimes are looking for their words and go: uuuuummmm...well that often will trigger the head trickles. Or a girls flipping through a magazine, especially when she is calmly explaining what they are looking at. I'm glad there are more whispering You tube videos but I wish there were more soft spoken ones.
Oh and I remember when I was younger there was this video poker machine where I used to work and every time someone would click the buttons it would trigger it as well. But the sound of certain keyboards can also do it. I so love the feeling! Thanks for this site! I'll be back
Actually, my whole life, I thought the opposite about this feeling. I thought EVERYBODY felt it when they were relaxed by a sound or sight etc. I've lived for 1.3 decades and finally discover I shouldn't dare mention this in front of my friends or I may receive some odd looks.
It's funny how you mention that it's more common for artists and musicians to have this feeling when I'm an artist and a former musician.
AND the fact you mention that people who are more introverted are more common to have this feeling when I'm notoriously introverted.
I enjoyed reading this because previously I had no idea about any of this information about ASMR.
I googled this just out of curiosity since I wondered if it was just me. Yep! I have it too.
Funny someone mentioned Bob Ross - that guy was the KING of giving me ASMR. It was something about his deep soothing voice and the strokes of the brush on the canvas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raXanYjTF18&feature
Also, the link above with the Vietnamese face massage thing worked for me too.
Also I remember getting it in elementary school when a girl who I had a crush on was explaining something to me in a whisper while writing on paper.
And lastly - one geeky example. I was playing a video game online and someone more powerful than me was helping me. It was something about the music, the environment, and the good nature of the person helping me gave me one.
It feels like a mini explosion in the back of my head that trickles down my neck like a firework. Sometimes it continues to radiate afterwards in a pulsating euphoria.
Hi - I've experienced these same feelings since I was a kid (I'm 38 years old and female in case you were curious). But it had been a while since I had the experience. And what triggered my most recent one was watching my dogs roll in the yard. You know when a dog smells something and they rub their face and neck in it then the roll on their backs? Well both of them were so into in and I found myself staring and I didn't want them to stop... it's hypnotic. I love the feeling. I try so hard to hold on to it. This week was the first time I thought to look it up online - so glad to hear about others having the same thing. I've never mentioned it to anyone before.
Very cool... I've searched for this before on the internet and always come across some kind of ailment on Wikipedia. haha. It apparently has different triggers for people, but does indeed sound like the same thing overall.
Some of my triggers:
Head Massage
Watching people getting chair massage
Shoe Shines (when guys are intense in their work)
Painters (check out Bob Ross)
Getting Hair Cut / Shampoo
Getting your own massage (especially neck, shoulders, head)
Discovering this "condition" however makes me wonder what non-experiences feel when they say a massage feels great? I always thought the ASMR was what everybody loved about getting a backrub, haircut, massage, etc.
Thank you. I've felt ASMR all my life and wondered what it was.
I've seeked it out as it has always been pleasurable in a non-sexual way. It is very euphoric for me. Funny thing is it has taken 10 years of searching on the Internet to finally figure out what it was called.
Hopefully these links work. They trigger my ASMR sometimes. Not as often as when I first found them, I guess watching it several times wears off the effect.
Thank you for writing this and validating my experiences. I am in my 40s and never knew anyone else had this except for me. I thought i was crazy! I still get the feelings and they are wonderful and i cherish them. I used to get them alot when i watched martha stewarts first show. her voice was very calming.
Finally some other people who know what I'm talking about when I try to explain the sensation :)
For as long as I can remember I can cause myself to feel this, and I sometimes get it from listening to some music, or seeing something that captures me the right way.
It starts with the back of the head and spreads out to the rest of the body. I've shown people the physical effects of this, but they just say it goosebumps. It's different though, because it's not temperature related. I've made it happen inside a sauna, so it's definitely not due to being cold.
It's odd that artists are mentioned in the original write-up, as I work as an illustrator. I frequently experience this sensation when visualizing concepts for my sketches.
Also, when i listen to music i get a chill down my spine, but it's not pleasurabe it almost like the voice is amazing and sends shivers but the cloudy feeling is wayyyy more euphoric and feels way different...are both ASMR?? or just hte cloudy feeling??
I am pretty sure I have ASMR.
I can induce this tingling sensation throughout my body, usually starting from the back of my head and neck through to my upper body. My skin becomes sensitive and I have a heightened sense of touch.
It is a typically positive feeling, as if energy is coarsing through my body. usually spoken words like 'Elbereth', 'Benaras' or praying trigger this.
hey guys,
i THINK i get this too but i'm not sure! i've had it all my life and it just sort of stays in my head like i get really cloudy and just focus on what's causing it. like really gentle females, haircuts, people calling me darling. is this ASMR? it's not quite tingling it feels really cloudy and really good and relaxing?
I am so glad that I am not alone. Ive tried telling people about this before and no one understands me. When I was a little girl I would pretend that my head itched so the nurse would check my head for lice! I loved my hair being touched and I still do. I get crazy tingles in my head when the back of my neck is touched. I watch Youtube videos of peoples makuep collections just so I can hear the clicking of the tubes and containers on each other. I am fascinated by the way people move their mouths when they talk and the way they chew gum.
BUT!..I also experience an opposite affect when I can hear someone chewing their food and it becomes so bothersome that I must leave the room. I think there is a negative to this as well!
This was amazing. I thought it was normal for a long time untill I started talking about it. Then people would always respond "what the hell are you talking about?" Its so hard to describe how powerfull the feeling becomes. I'm glad that someone is reserching it.
Wow, i cannot understand why i have never looked this up but i have to experienced this feeling for as long as i can remember, clicking and erratic tapping noises or someone borrowing my things when i was younger at school used to set me off! Like most other people that experience this feeling, when trying to describe it to a "non feeler" they haven't got a clue what your talking about! Great stuff!
I seem to get this related to a persons reaction to me, if somebody likes me or i do somthing good, i get it on the right side.
if however someone is moody with me or someone dont like me i get it on the left side!
its like spidy sence or summit! glad to know others have it or summit like it at least :-)
Dalri, I'm quite sure that oxytocin is a subject that's been brought up before on the Facebook group and forum, among other sorts of hormone and/or chemical release-related theories.
Poor grammar last post, so excited. Also, I have been doing my own research and wonder if you have seen any evidence that oxytocin has something to do with it?
I get this from hair cuts, washes, watching people unwrap food with crinkly packages, watching people prepare food in a slow manner, preferably with little to no talking, or from someone unexpectedly taking interest in me (nonsexual). I've gotten it since I was a kid, and it was most often induced by musical moments.
dude...
(nothin else, I just enjoy employing an age-inappropriate expression)...(which, of course, I have given myself away...damn...)
Anyway...loved your blogsite site...I'm pretty sure.
...but head vibrations, not so sure I am relating...years ago I used to do this thing, on the edge of sleep where, if I had the 'right balance', I could start a vibration thing that would begin as a flash of static in my brain (no, really...hear me out) the flashes would get longer and longer and then transition into a vibration that would feel like my teeth would fall out and then I would enter a state of (either) lucid dreaming or half awake hallucination...never quite sure..
What? this is the Safety First in Childrens Toys Hub? damn! sorry must of skipped over the previous comments...*
*Alright, I admit it! If there are tons of Comments on a Hub I think is cool, I deliberately not read all the previous Comments just so I don't see that 6 others have already made the totally insightful point that I want to make...
I have also had this feeling my whole life. I have never been able to make anyone else understand what it is so I quit talking about it. I am 38 now and I haven't had this feeling in a very long time. I would experience it when someone played with my hair as a child or when I watched someone do something to someone else that is completely un-erotic such as someone playing with someone else's hair. I used to be able to feel it by thinking about a situation that caused the tingling but not for very long.
I have been googling for so long, and this site is the only one closest..
My case, I guess, is different. Most of the comments here incl the main article indicate it is a pleasurable stuff. I normally get these tingling things on my head. It first started at the back of my head just above my neck when I was in Uni back 10 yrs before. I never enjoyed the sensation but strangely enough I get relaxed when someone touchs my hair/scalp, vibrations such as when my hair is cut. When I get too much of these crawling sensations all over my head, I really want to and go get my hair cut.
I guess, I need to google further or is anyone can say on this, pls? I can't focus on my life as I have to listen to these feelings all the time.
I have had this sensation for years, although this is the first time I have looked it up. I had no idea these sensations were so unheard of; I feel like an exclusive member to the euphoria group. This page is truly fascinating, you have given a wonderful peephole into our world.
I get this all the time! Have had it for years and thought it was something everyone had until i came to uni and spoke about it and people started calling me weird. I get strong hits all through my body dont to my legs. I get it most commonly if someone borrows something of mine of if someone does something for me. I didn't realise that softly spoken voices did it until i just started researching it so thanks!
wow i thought i alone but everytime someone touches my head softly or when i shaved the back of my head i would/will get a tingling feeling that runs to the middle of my back, which cause me to squirm and laugh. i cant be touched anywhere after the sensation without experiecing it again.
This is so cool, I didn't know it was such an unexplained sensation. I don't remember the first time I had this feeling, but I've pretty much had occasional experiences my whole life (19 years), with similar triggers to those others have mentioned. I think the theories are interesting, like the artist one, since I am also very creative and the empathy one, since my latest experience was from my friend offering me a sip of her drink. I would love to learn to control it, bring it on myself without external triggers. If anyone has tips on learning how to do this, I'm interested.
Great article. I've had this feeling since I was very young too. It always occurs on the right hand side of my brain, occurring in most of the situations described here (although unfortunately not when listening to music for some odd reason). Interesting to think that this sort of thing might be linked to creativity: I remember reading Joyce's Portrait of the Artist when I was younger and thinking that he must have had similar experiences. Nice to know there are other people out there who feel this though!
I am so happy to have found that I am not the only one. I have had this happened to me since I was a little girl (I am 38) My ASMR is usually triggered by listening to soft-spoken female voices, but I know that it has happened at other times and now I will try to pay more attention when it does. I love the feeling but have always been afraid there was something wrong with me. When I have explained it to others I have been met with puzzled looks and indifference. Thank you
This is amazing. I first remember getting this sensation in kindergarten while sitting on the floor learning somthing. I would usually forget about it untill it happened again. Just tonight a co worker was reading from one of those amazing facts apps and it happened again. It's always when I'm learning somthing. It's a great wave of relaxation accompanied by a wonderful tingle on my head. After reading other comments I noticed it would either be from a soothing female voice or someone who seemed learned who I don't know well. I never mentioned it to anyone because I didn't know how to describe it. It really is neat to find this. Thanks
My god. After years I randomly found the name on a youtube video I watch to get this feeling, so happy I'm not alone.
The first time I remember getting this feeling was when I was 10 and I was explaining a math thing to a friend of mine in school, and watching him think about the problem gave me this really weird feeling which at the time made me feel really uncomfortable. After that I kept finding things that would trigger this feeling to some degree, among other things:
-Certain movie scenes, I for example watched certain scenes from Watchmen/Fight Club/Pulp fiction about 20 times each.
-People typing on clicky keyboards
-Getting surveyed and filling out forms for people, perferable while I'm being watched doing it.
-People whispering
-Getting a haircut
It's became a sort of obsession where I'd have to watch/listen to some of the things on a daily bases,but that dumbed down eventually and now I just regularly listen to things that give me this feeling. Never told anyone about it and wasn't planning to till I found everyone here.
Love you all for being awesome
Heh, how fascinating! I can bring it on at will by uttering certain word-sounds at very low volume. I accidentally discovered I could do this- that certain sounds I made would give me this all-over body rush. It brings a feeling of safety and warm fuzzy envelopment- I "engage" this thing almost every night before I go to sleep. It's neat to know it's something that happens to other people!:D
I'm 23yr old male and I get type B a lot through music: Porcupine Tree, Blackfield, Opeth (their softer songs). Steve Wilson (the frontman to Porcupine Tree and part of Blackfield) has this soft English voice and a lot of his music will have ambient sounds. Brazilian music will also have this effect on me, especially Bossa Nova. I also get it through classical music, on the radio recently I heard this Wynton Marsalis solo and that's when it happened. I tend to like really layered music too so some Metallica songs will work.
I've also had that experience in the salon with somebody washing my hair and I was always very sensitive when getting my haircut. People tend to comment on how I flinch very quickly when they touch the back of my head or go for that area and I'm not expecting it.
I've also gotten this feeling when I've felt alone and heard soft noises in the distance. If I'm outside and not many people are around but there is a breeze then I love listening to the wind. Also hearing the voices of strangers walking by my house.
I can also do type A when I try to focus on listening to sounds. Then I've gotten type B as well when people touch my hair, or whisper close to me. I also like touching hair, I don't know if it's related or not.
Sometimes the feeling can be uncomfortable and I sometimes get a feeling of embarrassment but 9 times out of 10 I really like it. It's funny I always associated this with good music.
When I was a little kid my grandfather has this story of me when I was in Disneyland. I was the only person listening to this band playing and after they finished I got up and clapped. I don't remember the experience but I can bet I got that feeling when I listened to them play.
It's a great feeling, I didn't know that not everyone experienced it.
Also, I'm not sure I get it when I lend people things and watch them use it. I do get it when people observe what I'm doing very closely. I can't focus when that happens due to it.
I'm a 28yr old male from Ireland. I always had difficulty controlling this during my teens, if someone in school was leaning back on their chair and gently tapping my table with their chair, i experienced it. not to mention haircuts, watching people draw and for some bizarre reason, watching the way my math teacher wrote on my copybook. I was often given out to by teachers for a lack of concentration but I was busy, selfishly enjoying a rush from my head, all the way through my back haha! Thankfully my concentration has improved but I can now experience it almost on command once I feel relaxed enough. It kind of freaks me out to think that people are trying to experience a more intense rush with asmr because I've always been too afraid to see how far it can go. I mean, it can be a very intense feeling as it is! Also, this is the first time I've spoken about this to anyone!
ps. It's definitely not chills!
Brianna, I looked it up, and I think you mean "horripilation". It's really just another term for goose bumps.
Goosebumps can sometimes accompany ASMR, but not necessarily all the time, I've found.
I often have this feeling. I've always known that other people feel it because it is a common occurrence in the choral world. The mixing of harmonies seems to affect everyone.
My choir teacher in grade school told me it was called "hiripulations" (not a clue on the spelling), the feeling of tingles when hearing or seeing something amazing often starting in the head and traveling down the spine or through the extremities.
I'm not sure if this is a real word or not (though she was very well educated). And I can't find it anywhere on the internet (probably because of spelling) but this is the word I use.
I get this feeling when I hear people eating crisps(chips)and the sound of the bag crinkling, When having my head, back or arms tickled, when i hear rain on a tent, computer keyboard tapping, when having my hair cut or having a tatoo usually after an injury i experiance this feeling and after having morphine in hospital once was the most intense of this feeling I'm pretty sure it is opiate related endorphins/drugs/Melatonin that cause this feeling but that is just my opinion :)
I never thought this was anything special. I just thought everyone got those feelings when they listen to someone drawing, typing, doing something relaxing etc. Nice to know it's something sort of special! :) I love the feeling.
And thank goodness for youtube. So many ASMR videos on there!
Wow, I was totally shocked by this! It's amazing to find other people have this and that I'm not just some crazy person.
I love the euphoric like experience, and if you haven't experienced it, boy, are you missing out. Crinkling paper, or the opening of a package really gets me. Also listening to older people have conversations will put me over the brain tingle edge.
I'm so glad to have found this!
wow! i never thought that theyr people who cant feel this feeling...
I should throw my two cents in. I get this also, pretty strong. It's virtually always triggered by a calm (usually elderly) voice, both male and female. It can last as long as the duration that the speaks for and I have yet to be able to pinpoint what sets it off. There are certain people I know who will trigger it, although I've never mentioned it to them. I also have synaesthesia, and see symmetrical shapes and rotating patterns when I close my eyes. Sounds like I'm not alone in this stuff at all. Not to be all faux-spiritual and hokey (I'm not at all), but I've had a couple of strange experiences with perception that have somewhat freaked me out and a couple of my friends out. I'll leave one out as it's quite a long story, but a friend of mine lost some important paperwork that was on a blue clipboard. He was looking for it for weeks. One night, we were in a room full of people and he mentioned it to me again, I suddenly visualized it in another room that I'd never been in -- and sure enough, that's where it was. Connected? No idea, but that sort of stuff tends to happen to me quite often.
Interesting theory, Mary.
I'm not sure, but ASMR is generally thought of as being positive, or pleasurable. I'm quite sure however that most of the community would argue that if it isn't pleasurable, it isn't ASMR. :)
It's possible. Sometimes the ASMR I experience is so intense, it borders on being somewhat uncomfortable, but I wouldn't say painful.
Is there such thing as positive versus negative ASMR? I think I have experienced both (positive=pleasurable, negative=not pleasurable or bothersome).
Oh my gosh thank u so much for bringing this up! I never really googled it until today, but I have been getting this feeling since I was a child. For me, what triggers this is when I let someone borrow something of mine (like a pen) and I watch them use it, when someone touches or plays with my hair, or when someone is interested in and watching what I am doing, like looking at something i am reading. This is so weird, I thought it was only me who got this! It's really nice to know there are others who get this sensation. I consider myself gentle natured also.
I got this feeling when I had left something I printed behind in class, and a teacher had left suggestions written underneath as helpful remarks. It was left for me to find it the next day. It was the fact he had written it to begin with, and the way he wrote it (1...2..3...), that gave me that warm fuzzy feeling (with sleepiness)in the back of the head and temples. Remembering it makes me feel it again.
I cant believe other people have this. For me, I get it when I listen to music that has vocal harmony,or when the artist has a really good voice. I also get it when people are brushing my hair with soft strokes, and I get it when people talk and swallow, and make certain sounds with their lips. Weird....But hey its worth mentioning. I didn't know there was a certain diagnose for it. Anyways, very intresting article:)
I've been listening to a lot of videos on youtube lately folding paper, rummaging through handbags, a bit of everything really.. and I love to listen to them, so much.
My mother used to run her fingers through my hair when I was a little girl and the feeling was sooo good.
My whole head tingled and I felt shivers down my spine. Now I feel the shivers down my spine and all of the area on my head, above my ears tingles when I listen to these sounds.
I'm still confused as to whether I'm an ASMR "sufferer" or whether the sounds just feel nice to listen to? Are these "head orgasms" out of this world or just what I think I have (which is just a tingly nice feeling)? And although I do relate to almost all of the triggers above, I don't really know if I have ASMR.
I(Male) have had this sensation since 14 I am now 21. When it first happen the sensation was strong and started in my head (very top back area)lasted only seconds(it never has lasted that long for me except on very few situations). Ignored sensation and thought what it was never talk about it for obvious reason as mentioned above honestly if you act out a conversation in your mind with someone regardless of what they say listen to what you say and it becomes quite evident. However i started feeling it more frequently and the sensation sometimes would shoot through my body in certain places. First it would always started in the back of the head and move to the front, sometimes my face then it would shoot down my back, once or twice shot into my arms but not hands, never felt past lower body. I learned i could trigger this sensation off strong emotions mainly anger or sadness or hopeless, dont think i could get joy to work or ever tried. I can amplify the sensation to almost it feels like my head might explode but not control where it goes. Glad to know there are others. The only real comfort is that it is enjoyable. But at the rate we are going do not believe we will ever know for sure what it is simply because of others inability to take us seriously. My sincere guess is the presence of Almighty God, the God of Abranham from king james bible. God Bless. P.S. Hope someone can figure this out.
I've been feeling this sensation for years but for some reason never looked into it. It is a completely euphoric feeling and usually occurs when I am feeling centered and focused on the present. Often music will induce the feeling, but it also occurs during seemingly inconsequential moments. In my opinion, it occurs when we are fully in tune with the energy that flows in and out of our bodies. If you've read the Celestine Prophecy - I have similar beliefs, and I think it's very possible that ASMR can be explained through this energy transfer...
Thank god!!! I'm 52 and have experienced this wonderful affliction for as long as I remember!! Never knew others felt this way. When I told someone about it they looked at me as if I were a freak! I describe it this way: when I see someone reading intently, I can feel their eyes scanning the page as if they were touching it or I can "feel" the brush touch the object while someone is painting. Very relaxing and soothing as if someone were playing with my hair. I love it!!!
I'm so glad I found this, and now know that I'm not alone. I've experienced this as long as I can remember, but less and less as I've gotten older. I'm not 27 and can say that it's been quite a while since I experienced this. I have noticed that when I focus on my common triggers for this I can (to some degree) initiate the experience. For me, I generally experience the feeling when watch others concentrate, especially handling papers, wrappings, etc. (YouTube "unboxing" videos are great triggers for me.)
I can confidently say that this is not related to any sort of tumor. When I was young I had CAT scans and MRI's done as a precaution while I was experiencing migraines. No tumors were found, but it was discovered that I had what was called a venous angioma (basically the veins in my brain are different from most people). Maybe this is related to the experience? In any case thanks for posting this, I can wait to read more on the subject.
I get this when people touch my hair or neck (in the back) and when someone says something nice about me! It's incredibly pleasant.
For me, it just stays in my brain
Wow!! I'm so glad that I found this site-- I've always gotten this tingling feeling. I remember getting it when I was little when I would read books, when people would 'play with my hair' and listening to people whisper.
I get it stil now- I'm 18- when people speak gently to me, like when I'm at the eye doctor, listening to certain music, or if I listen to whispering videos.
I noticed that 'creative' people get this more? Says the article, I am an artsit- I paint and draw- and I have been playing the piano since I was three and taking lessons since I was five.
I'm so glad to know that others experience this wonderful feeling. My Mom thought it was wierd, becuase she didn't understand, though she has decribed goosebumps on her arms when she listens to certain music, but that's not the same as my tingling feeling... The one that starts in the back of the head creeps over the head and down the spine. Haha I always thought I was wierd or something.
And I thought I was the only one! This is insane, I can't believe other people have this and it's so common!
I've had this since second grade, and since I have sensitive skin, I can induce it by scratching my back/neck. I also get it when people talk in a relaxing voice.
My website has loads of videos that will induce that tingly feeling! Check it out at http://www.soothetube.com
I'm so glad that I finally searched this topic!
I'm 23 and I've gotten this feeling for as long as I can remember. I think the first time I remember getting it was when I was 7 or 8 watching a movie and a girl unwrapped a present really slowly. I rewound that part over and over and I knew it was strange that I liked to watch it so much but it felt so good! When I was a kid I would watch infomercials for hours. I didn't know why I liked them and my parents thought I was crazy, but the people talking gave me the feeling. When I finally found this site I told my sister to look it up and she said that she gets it too. I never told anyone about it because I thought that it happened to everyone, but apparently that's not the case.
Try listening to the whispers in this song
I used to get this a lot too, not as much recently but before when I started feeling this I figured out how to keep on having the sensation and I had it straight everyday for like all of last summer. Every chance I had I would make sure to make the tingling occur because it felt so good. Then I started having out of body experiences...and I got scared so I stopped having them all the time. :( I think they are angels communicating.
I get this when watching certain scenes in films. The Princess Bride for instance, when the Albino is dabbing the cloth on Wesleys shoulder down in the pit of dispare, or Edward Scissor hands, when she is putting the make up on his face in the Kitchen. Or Krull, near the beginning when the old man is putting his oitmant on a piece of cloth to heal the guys wound. It's these sounds and subtle actions that cause it and I've had it since I was a kid. No idea what it is but its great.
When I used to be a phone tech operator some people would call in and would have very soft spoken voices, and I'd zone out. Sometimes I would ask them to repeat what they just said just to feel the tingle again. Haha, its weird.
used to get this all the time, can't remember the last time it happened before today while reading about it in this article. I remember my all time favorite and most intense tingling feeling in the head was in grade school when the school nurse came in and did a lice check with sticks.
Hello AV-This is an interesting hub. I find it interesting b/c I have experienced this 'sensation' throughout my life starting as a young child. Since I've been involved in a particular spiritual group that is focused on soul development I have realized that this sensation is a part of the essence of our Beings. It is the pure Intelligence from a Divine sense and as we become more aware of this Intelligence the sensation will increase because we are tapping into that source of our Beingness.
Interesting hub and very interesting comments following.
Im so glad I found this site, great to know there are other people out there experiencing this, almost makes me feel like part of something special. I had the sensation yesterday when reading an email and decided to look it up. Ive spoken to people about it before including my family and they all look at me daft because they dont know what im talking about. I get triggered by much of the same things already mentioned - certain voices being the main one. Other strong triggers for me are filling in questionnaires, doing surveys over the phone as well as someone showing me/explaining how to do something or someone playing with my hair. I haven't yet found a way to induce ASMR consciously but im going to check out the youtube content to see if it works for me. I have become quite good at prolonging and intesifying the feeling once I get it though. I do it by focusing on whatever it was that triggered it and occasionally adjusting my shoulders to make my clothing gently rub against my neck and back. I dont know if its the actual physical stimulus or the slight change of temperature on my neck (or both) that sets it off but when I do this, the feeling comes back like an intense rush over my head and spreads right down my back and remains for a while. Amazing feeling. Thanks for the hub Anti-Valentine, I think youre right that this subject deserves more investigation and I would love to know the reason why it only happens to certain people, there surely must be something we all have in common.
Finally...I'm not the only one. I never really thought I was the only one, though. Same triggers as everyone else it seems, except music. Music doesn't do it for me. Certain voices, haircuts, watching older woman shop at discount clothing stores (hearing the hangers move and then the woman looking at the clothing!). I'm curious. I've been doing alot of reading. I haven't seen anyone mention the king of ASMR triggers - Bob Ross - the painter from the 70's and 80's. His show puts me in a trance. Please comment about Bob Ross and the shopping thing.
Music is the main trigger for me. String instruments and orchestral music trigger the tingling! Chord changes really intensify these feelings. My profession is music/(Deejay and creator). Though it is also triggered from compassion whether it be visual(films/Tv) or stories and books. Success stories also trigger this feeling! Happy or sad. Basically anything emotive. I can sometimes manage the feeling and control it by a shrug of the shoulders. The tingling is experienced from my upper back, shoulders, neck and the back of my head. I am honoured to experience these feelings and this blog has given me a sense of community. Thank you.
Finally there's a name for the thing that I've been experiencing all these years! I get it often when I am watching someone (only if its a woman) go through things especially if she's also softly talking about it. Especially if the items don't belong to her. Like if she's shopping in a clothing store and is examining the clothes carefully. I've collected a lot of videos on youtube of girls taking you through their jewelry collection or clothes collection. When I was little I used to love the moment when a new friend would come into my room for the first time. I would always encourage them to look at all my things because I'd get those sensations watching her go through my toys and things. Also of course if someone I don't know well (like a hair dresser) is cutting or styling my hair gently. I've always kind of felt like a creeper because of it and now I feel better. :)
This is incredible. I'm 20 years old and have been having these sensations for as long as I can remember. I've tried explaining the feeling many times before and have been rejected every time. This means so much to me that I have finally found a reason for the sensations I called - mindgasms.
i get the feeling in my around and behind my eyes when watching someone draw or write.
I also have had this for as long as I can remember, but mine has gotten more frequent over the years and I am almost 31. I also sneeze when I look at the sun as you where talking about, I wonder if there is a connection. When it happens to me it starts in my scalp and tingles out in bursts through my body and has almost put me to sleep on the spot out of relaxation.It is a strange yet great feeling!!
Wow this is exactly what I have felt since I was a kid! Just like most of the other posts it happens when someone is nice to me, but no one understands me when I try to explain it. I was starting to think I was the only one with it... I wonder how many people actually do feel this?
I have been feeling this all my life and just recently I found out I can get them almost anytime I want by listening to whisper videos on youtube, specialy from people with accents. It works so well that I'm actualy killing stuff in a video game while listening to the whispers and still getting these sensations. It has become an addiction.
I started feeling this at a young age. I had it very intense when I was younger. Its become less and less as I get older. I'm from a family of five. Mom and dad have never felt this. My older sister and I have. She is type A I'm type B. Younger sister has no idea "thinks we are nuts". I'm a drug addict "of course" I'm all about feeling good. My question, How many people that feel this have a draw to drugs? We need to get medical about this. Forms No Names with questions about people with this.
You're all more than welcome. Thanks for your kind comments about the article. I enjoyed writing it and maintaining it, along with my other ASMR sites. I like to read them, even though I don't respond to each individually. ;)
I've been curious about this sensation since I was five. It runs down from my head to my chest usually when I watch gentle people create and draw so passionately. Thanks so much for all this. (:
This happens to me all the time! This is the first time I've found something on the internet that describes the sensation perfectly. It usually happens to me when I'm in a very calm mood; often when I'm listening to a lecture in class and not completely paying attention well enough to understand what's being said. Once I start to notice it happening, I can sometimes concentrate and make it last longer, but I usually can't intentionally trigger it.
Thanks for setting up this page. I've been looking for validation about this phenomenon for a long time.
oooh yes, being surveyed always gives me that feeling. i think it has got something to do with other people doing something especially for you - interviewing, giving instructions, explaining something, massaging, brushing hair etc.
I had these sensations all my life and have often wondered if I was just strange or if it happened to other people as well.
When I was a kid, my sisters and I used to have this game where we'd spell words on each other's back and we'd try to guess the word.
Well, I'd alway guess wrong because I would always get that tingly sensation when they were writing on my back.
Sometimes a haircut will do it, but if someone is brushing my hair or playing with my hair, it will most assuredly happen.
When I have people asking me questions, like an interview or survey and they have to write the answers down or there is time where they are digesting my answers, I get that sensation.
I'm happy to have found this page. Good information here.
fascinating thread, probably as informative as one can get on such an unresearched topic. i also experience 'that tingling feeling', especially as i am being massaged, when i see someone drawing, when someone explains something to me. i watch relaxation and whisper videos on youtube every day to get that feeling, and it is true that the more you do it, the weaker it gets, and also that you can easily get immune to one specific video. one time i forgot about the feeling for weeks, then stumbled on a video and was completely knocked out my relaxation, with tingles going all the way down my back. i have always felt like the feeling was having goose bumps on the scalp, especially as being cold really makes the feeling stronger and sometimes when my head is really cold i even get the feeling. the feeling seems to come in waves, and once i have got the feeling, i can re-induce a wave at will, but this is never as good as when it comes naturally. btw i am strongly left-brained.
would love to know how the anatomy of this feeling works :)
This is great! I truly appreciate what you are doing. I'm a 21 year old college student and have been experiencing this feeling for years. I can turn it on and off at will. I don't know what it is. I would love for a doctor to actually research into it.
Anyways thanks again
-Jan
It looks like most people get it from hearing things. I usually get it when someone touches me softly or plays with my hair. especially if they part my hair. when my friend does my hair and parts it i get this feeling. i can get this feeling from just thinking about it like i am now. but if it is brought on by someone else touching me it is much stronger.
ryan, you are my god
I know this feeling, and I've recently intuited what it is.
So far, no one has taken me seriously, or at least responded in a way that I know they understand the impact of this. I think everyone can feel it, and in time, as we unravel the "confusion" that our societies are bottled up in us, more people will experience it.
It's the soul. There's clearly a creator. And that creator sends us feedback on things. There's no "good" or "bad", but there is reinforcement to "the way", and I believe this is just one mode of reinforcement. Lately in my life, I've been getting this tingling more and more. And lately in my life I've been more and more in tune with my natural rhythm, as I've pushed out all the crazy stuff that goes on in the name of society.
My current beliefs are in line with the native american spirituality, where rocks are a spirit and whatnot. This feeling has been tied to EVERYTHING for me, even inanimate objects like stuffed animals are a jacket.
But going back to these reinforcements, they will tell you when something has quality. Also, once you're in tuned to your karma, there will be other indicators, and they will let you know when something is getting in the way of you appreciating quality of life in the nirvanistic sense. This is weird... but I think it's right. This feeling IS LIFE itself. It's a singing of your soul in your body when all the abstractions are peeled away and there is nothing to impede it.
I've been trained as a scientist my whole life. I understand how EVERYTHING works. I've always graduated cum laude. I have an engineering graduate degree from Ivy League (U Penn) that includes studies in neuroscience and artificial intelligence. I've also played university orchestras. I play about 10 different instruments and I consider myself an extremely good judge of quality - the best I know. :)
You might read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance... but it might not be for everyone unless your of a scientific mind.
The thing is, science is an art, and it's a bad one at that. For reasons explained in that book, that I've never seen explained anywhere else, the scientific method is flawed and restrictive, and there are things that exist that cannot be easily proven in a lab. This is a perfect example. Anti-valentine, you may go crazy trying unless you open your mind to this possibility first.
There are certainly strides to make in the laboratory setting, but understanding and intuiting the feeling first is paramount. I would love to work on something like this with the right crowd. I will know when the time is right. My body will zing and I will feel comfortable and breath deep.
I experience this and though I doubt anyone will read this anyways I'll type out what I believe it is.
I believe this occurs when you find something or your current situation so very beautiful. It may be something small that you absolutely love, maybe you don't -really- know what it is but subconsciously you just adore/admire that small aspect so much that it creates this serene feeling. Basically you are madly in love with how something feels to whatever of your six senses it may be thus triggering the sensation.
I know it's stupid but that's what I believe it is..
I also experience these sensations. I love them. I experienced one today watching my friend was concentrating on writing something for me and showing me how to do the work. I experience these sensations when people are doing stuff for me, playing with my hair, getting my hair cut, my hair brushed. I also feel them when people are showing me how to do something. I dont have these sensations all the time but I love them. The only negative thing i would say about them is that they take your mind off things. Like in school when im in the middle of doing my work or supposed to be listening to the teacher talking.
Amazing, i;ve had this all my life and never really considered the idea of anyone else lucky enough to have this condition.
Just about every trigger you mentioned i am sensative to. I am a musician and left handed and ironically i have an identical twin who is right handed and doesnt experience ASMR (there must be something in this), he is if a more business mind too so there is something in what you're saying there
Be really interested in discussing further with anyone studying this phenomenon
Gary
mail@garyprosser.com
omg! this happens to me too!
wow, i thought it was normal for everyone...
OMG. I have experienced this phenomena occasionally ever since I was a little kid, and literally thought I was the only person this happened to. It's like a non-sexual orgasm on my scalp. I feel it when someone plays with my hair or when I watch someone draw a picture of me. Sometimes I get the tingling sensation when I watch someone like a master craftsman intently involved in his work. WHY don't other people talk about this?! For my entire life I've kept it as my "secret good feeling". It's similar to the sensation I felt when I first discovered that rubbing myself "down there" felt good, but because I was so young there was no sexual connotation. There's nothing sexual about this tingling scalp phenomenon except that the feeling of euphoria is similar to an orgasm.
You have no idea how much I love the internet. I no longer feel like a weird freak who has to keep this quiet because no one else understands it.
For what it's worth, I'm an introverted artist and writer. I remember experiencing this as young as 5 or 6 years old. I'm 29 now.
I've had this sensation for as long as I can remember, but I never thought much of it. It seems the thing that triggers it most out of anything is when somebody does something kind for me or is thoughtful to me. I always thought it was a little odd, but indeed it is pleasurable. I'm glad to see that there is an interest in this and other people are experiencing this.
I've had this feeling forever, no one I've talked to about it had any idea what I was on about. I'm so glad other people have experienced this, and that well I'm not crazy! :D
Ooh idea! Maybe triggering this impulse on a regular basis could mimic the effects of stimulant medication or antidepressants without the side effects? Maybe this could be compared to the feelings of not just drugs but other theorized highs like a runners high. Check out this link: http://edition.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/01/11/marijuana So many possibilities, if only I had a degree in neurobiology!
Huh, well I just had this feeling and decided to look it up, and until I just went to search for it I honestly thought it was something everyone felt, or a lot of people. I never told anyone about it because I just figured it was normal. Weird. I'd like to think I am a creative, introspective person, which is largely a product of my ADD (clinical). I get this most reliably when someone is focusing all of their attention on me in a helpful or evaluative way, like: when meeting with a professor, having someone proofread my paper, going to the doctor, having someone do my hair, or even just pretend to tell my fortune. When I was younger, having someone do one of those M.A.S.H. games for me, or those fortune teller things, or try to draw me, would light up my head like a Christmas tree. It really does feel like your scalp is beaming like a lighthouse, as odd as that sounds. Since I have a well developed imagination, even just imagining those particular experiences will still do it for me, although not as intensely as experiencing them directly. I can equate it almost with a cat purring, which mine does even when you just look at him for a while. Come to think of it, why did I think everyone was a cat-purring head/neck beamer? Only us odd folks. It feels very much biological, like some nerve pathway through the amygdala happens to fork oddly on the way to the hypothalamus. You can tell I earned my degree in armchair psychology from wikipedia. Oh, and I should mention that the first and only time I tried marijuana I didn't enjoy it because it felt exactly like the head/neck beaming effect but much more physically intense to the point where it crossed the line into painful and my head was throbbing. But it can't be caused by drugs since that's the only time I've ever taken any. Much more likely it just corresponds to the same pleasure centers in the brain. Thanks for the interesting new perspective on literally hundreds of lifetime experiences.
andy its ad :) just avvin a random stalk :) ... marr you sound like my kinda asmr'er m8, :)
Also, I was just wondering if anyone who feels this "aie" phenomenon ever feels like there brain is blowing up like a balloon with air. It only happens every once in a while but I will be listing to something and I will feel cloudy something similar to "aie" only no euphoric feeling. Just kind of like my head is rubbery and filling with air. lol
Hopefully I don't have a tumor.
This so strange. I have had this sensation all my life.
When I really listen to music and relax to it it hits me like a wave. I feel it in my neck and back. My head tingles. It rides my spine. It so wonderful. I have had this since young childhood. Music or soft touch on my back or neck have always done it. Or when I feel I am really connecting with someone. Very glad I found this.
I always assumed I was just very creative and could get swept away with it.Out of all the people I know only one other person has ever felt this way. I have taken many mind altering substances, Acid, Mushrooms and E all of similar effects to this. Though with the drugs its harder to really sense where the sensation is coming from.
Meggles, rest assured that it's likely not anything to do with being a lesbian.
Some people's ASMR is triggered by an interaction with a female only, or a male only, while others can get it from both. I'm one of the latter, and I don't consider myself to be bisexual, for instance.
Hi there,
I Can't believe people get this feeling because i thought there was something wrong with me! :(
For me it feels like i'm being hypnotised and i go sort of "cloudy" in my head
the wierd thing is tho, it's only if girls with certain voices talk to me or a girl softly touches me..i never associated it with anything sexual but if i don't get it with guys? could that be a lesbian thing? or just the nature of the feeling??
confuzzling but relieved that other people feel it too!
WOW im 14 and every since i was 6 i would get this when i talked to my spanish grandma, talk about something really interesting,but most of the time passing by on the tv a infomercial. For some reason i get this feeling becuase i believe i caused it to when i was younger on a harry potter scene where harry buys a wand. the sound of the boxes just makes me feel good and tingles my head
I have this often too. It's mostly audio that does the trick. Sounds. Like the folding of paper or the breathing of someone. Sometimes it happens when people play with my hair its a pleasurable tingling sensation that happens every once in a while.
Wow. I get this occasionally - it's so pleasurable. For me, it's triggered by people voices, generally male, generally older and generally well spoken, lisps also seem to be a trigger. Once it starts, the effect seems to "snowball" - I know it's coming and my brain goes out of this world, almost like someone breaking an egg on the top of my brain and feeling it run down. I could literally sit and listen for hours and hours experiencing this.
i tell a lie in my previous comment, ive remembered that i get it when someone sayes something inspirational, something that emotional touches me, and also when im really happy.
i get this quite alot. but only to music?
im constantly looking for more music that gives me this sensation, its strange
I've always had this but strangely I've never really thought about what caused it. I used to get it at school when teachers spoke and when I was instructed how to do something. I still love falling asleep listening to the girls on shopping channels. Weird huh lol
Interesting theory concerning cats there, Tigsy. I have read about some members on the Facebook Group who have cats, and they can sometimes trigger their ASMR off.
When I used to keep dogs, the same thing happened to me.
First off, I think cats get it all the time. Why do you think they're constantly purring and love to stare at their owners doing mundane stuff? =)
I've had this experience since I was 7 years old - or probably before that. Aged 7 was my earliest and most clear memory. A teacher read from a book and I was just hypnotized. I don't get it from head massages or haircuts however. I think it's common to feel tingles from being touched and not too difficult for science to explain. I get it from voices, watching some people do certain mundane tasks, and a few songs.
The best way to describe this to people who don't experience it is to tell them to remember the songs or movie scenes that give them goosebumps. ASMR, for me anyway, is similar to that minus the goosebumps. And also the fact that we ASMR-ers get the feeling while watching/listening to seemingly random mundane clips/actions of other people.
Music after all is the universal language. Listening to soul-enriching songs, the type that makes your spirit smile, is probably the closest non-ASMRers will get to experiencing it.
Oh and like any mental activity, the more I've been triggering my ASMR from YouTube clips, the easier it's getting to trigger it...I also started meditating my crown chakra (color purple) yesterday. I found out about other people who experience this just a few days ago after a Google search.
I am glad I'm not the only one in the world. I used to have it more when I was younger but I still experience it sometimes. Like right now after very long time I have this sensation. usually it happens when someone cuts my hair, reads something over my shoulder but I noticed it mainly when someone borrows my stuff or attentively looks at them. Now I have the feeling but is slowly disappearing because someone said positive words about one of my works. And said he would like me to do something for him. It gave me the unnamed feeling.
@Shelby
This phenomenon doesn't seem to have gotten that much attention. You're right there. I can only say that I've spoken to a doctor, who actually experienced the sensation himself, and he said that because it isn't about a pathology of sorts, it isn't high on the priority list, so to speak.
And I think it should be, seeing as a lot of so-called scientists and so on always seem to research other pointless stuff - and they tend to go back again and again and get different results at that.
Don't mind me. I just don't think much of some scientists and research, even though I prefer science to religion.
Oh gosh I am so glad I have found some kind of information about this thing I'm experiencing so often. I'm 24 y. o. female, Mine started in childhood around 6-8. I liked to unbutton my dress in the back a little and then my mom or my friends to button it up for me, I liked to watch someone look for something for me especially in the books. I love listening to book pages turning in a slow matter or going through purse or make up bag, I like listening to elderly explaining how to do smth or whispering with lips smacking. I watch videos on YouTube everyday to get "high", if I may say. I am kind of creative person and I have very strong and weird imagination. I used to think that experiences of tingling had something to do with my childhood because a lot of sounds that I liked remind me sounds that my parents used to do when I was a baby, like whispering a fairytale while flipping through the book, like buttoning me up all the time, etc. I thought it was like me missing me being cared for by my mom. But now I see that it might be caused by something else. Hmmm...
I had told my mom about this, and she just gave me a weird look. So I had been hesitant to ask anyone else about it. I'm so glad I've found this though! I would love to know more about it, and why some people experience it and others don't. I used to get these feelings when I was little and I was at the doctors office. Especially when they held the stethoscope to listen to my breathing. I've also gotten it just from reading things. People who respond to me with a long, well thought out response seem to make me have this "sensillation." In fact, I got it a little just from reading the article! I don't think it is in any way "sexual" though. The sensation just doesn't feel sexual. I do have to ask though, this seems like something that is widely experienced. Why do you think it hasn't gained the attention of more people?
Yes! I am so glad I found this! I've noticed this feeling for as long as I can remember, although in my adulthood it seems as if it happens less often - or perhaps I have just become accustomed to it.
My episodes are typically triggered by letting someone borrow something of mine, look at my work, run their hands through my hair or give me a massage - there are many others but these are the most sure ways to trigger the feeling. One point mentioned was that the sensation can be held onto by continuing to think about the event after it has passed and this also seems to work for me on a limited basis for a limited amount of time.
I've always assumed that everybody experienced these sensations so I've never told anyone about them. It is interesting to find out that there is really no explanation for them and also that it seems to be limited to a smaller percentage of people than I thought.
Thanks for posting this!
WOW! Finally, i come across a article that really corresponds to something i have or still experience in my life. What really triggers it is, like videos of people unboxing iphones and other tech stuff without any noise, but the crickling and those random noises the unboxing makes.
Funny you should mention this. The channel we had over here in SA, called Animax, used to broadcast that show I think. But Animax went under last month.
I'll try and find the song on YouTube perhaps.
I get an all over head tingle when I listen to certain music. Ex. I use to watch .hack//sign and now every time I hear the opening theme (obsession-by dream field) I experience it.
I have been experiencing this sensation for as long as I can remember. I just experienced this feeling a few minutes ago which prompted me to google search the "tingle feeling". I've never tried to research it before. I don't think I've ever talked about it with anyone either. It's always been my own secret pleasure. It is a wonderful feeling, usually triggered when someone explains something to me or takes interest in something about me or something I am doing. I would say it has nothing to do with drugs, or sexuality, for me at least, because I've been experiencing it since I was a child. Recently I have been able to prolong the experience if I concentrate on the feeling, haha, I'm bringing the sensation back slightly right now! This sensation is better than any drug I have taken. Not as good as sex though. I am an artist and a musician, if that means anything who knows. It's good to know other people get to experience the sensation as well.
I just discovered these Youtube videos of people whispering, just talking about their day but instead of speaking aloud they whisper! Good stuff, at least for me! :)
I get it when my English teacher is writing on the board, typing, sorting out papers etc and it's a really relaxing feeling.
I also hear it when certain people are talking or doing day to day tasks such as cooking or reading the paper.
I'm really glad there are other people out there experiencing what I do - it makes me feel really alone when I try to talk about it to other people and they just give me a funny look.
Im glad i found this i been looking for answers a long time. I thought I was the only one who would experience this
This is amazing. So far, my whole life I have experienced this feeling when watching teachers write on the board or when someone is slowly drawing - I just get mesmerized and I have never ever been able to explain it to anyone or even completely comprehend it myself.
I am so glad I stumbled upon this article after skeptically googling this phenomenon, thank you so much for your in-detail explanations and thorough research. So happy I found this! It is wonderful to know many other people experience this feeling too.
Emily, we would usually just say that one experiences both type A and B if they provided the description you have.
Although believe me, I've been racking my brain for months trying to establish if there could indeed be a third one, or Type C. It's possible.
Just a suggestion, add a third category to the types. There are those of us that can both control it conciously and it happens whether we want it to or not. It usually just depends on the situation. I can't control it when I'm at the hair salon, when my dentist was giving me laser jaw therapy for TMJ, when my fiance kisses my forehead right at my hairline etc., but I can make my back, neck and head feel it any time I want.
Oh my God! I thought I was the only person on earth to have those sensations! I'm so pleased that other people are in touch with themselves enough to recognize that type of sensation and to admit to it. I felt like a complete freak until just now!
You know, this has been something I've experienced almost my entire life, but it's specifically triggered from music. I don't know if it's from all the time I spent in the orchestra, or what, but there are certain songs that are just guaranteed triggers for me. The song Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity, by Holst for example, has 2-3 guaranteed triggers near the end of the song -- but there are times when I never see it coming.
Glad to see someone who's actually compiled some data on this, because I've been trying to think of a way to describe it to people for years.
Anna, there are links on the sidebar above that will take you to several dedicated ASMR websites. And on the ASMR forums as well as my blog, UNF, there's a whole list of forums and blogs that have talked about the subject.
There's a lot of info out there, but nothing really official on it, it seems.
does anyone have any more information about this? studies? articles? other forums? i didnt think anyone else experienced this! it happens very often to me and it distracts me from focusing on conversations or in class!! i would like to learn more, especially about other common personality traits people with this experience share.
last night me and my sister where talking and i was brushing her hair, and i said do you ever get that crazy feeling when people brush your hair or explain math problems to you? and she was like "YES, i thought i was the only one" it was so great to figure out someone else had this, Then my brother came home and we asks him and he said "yeah i get it when salesmen talk to me over the phone. it makes me feel...weird, i don't like it
my sister found this website the today and we were both excited:) thanks for posting this!
I don't know why I never Googled this before...I too experience this and have ever since I was a child. Relaxing, soft spoken voices definitely do it for me, male or female (I am a female myself), and if I have the privilege to watch someone draw or concentrate on something that they are doing. The more "tired" I am the more intense the feeling is and it makes me very very sleepy...
The only major difference that I have to all these other experiencers is that I don't feel it in my head as such, I feel it as a strong pleasurable tingling in my throat area, or the fifth chakra if you will. I am also a musician and the fifth chakra is the creativity chakra, so I wonder if it has something to do with that as suggested in your blog...?
I am 32 years old now and the feeling is as strong as it was when I was a child, or even stronger. It's like how I would imagine a cat feels when it is purring, only without the physical vibration.
It is an interesting phenomena and up till today I thought I was the only "freak" experiencing it (maybe I still am since everyone else seem to feel it in the head instead of the throat?). It would be interesting to know why it happens but on the other hand I don't really care. I'm just glad it happens to me. :)
Hey, I'm glad I looked around, I always thought this sensation was normal, but then I described it to a couple of people and they looked at me funny. Glad to see that some people are looking into it
Hi, thanks for this forum.It's a great feeling isn't it! I most recently (and not for first time) experienced this feeling in a car on a hot summers day. It led me to developing a little theory. I summised that it may have to do with a kind of short circuiting of sense & perception. In the car example the temperatue needs to be constantly fluctuating so u feel hot and cold nearly at once, there is the kinetic felt movement of the wind and some times aural sense also...this is common to having your hair cut (body heat from person, noise fom machine and actual touch) common to the sound of certain accents, this is not always but in presence of other environmental potential stimuli. I guess its that we are more sensitive to multiple sensory stimuli or have less RAM or processing power to cope with many triggers...just thoughts !!
Thanks
It is amazing that other people have the same "tingling in their head" I always get it when i listen to "Robot Sciecne" "Nirvana" and other great music. I also get it when i experience a sexual orgasm. except the tingling in my head is almost more stronger than than the orgasm itself!
I'm so very pleased to come across this group. All my life I've experienced this 'cerebral orgasm' as it has been called but, up until this very moment, I've never known that anyone else had had this happen. On a whim, I just googled "tingling in the head good feeling" and there you are!
Mine comes on when someone is doing something kind and selfless and straight up honest. As has been said, the older I get, the less frequent the occurrences. I have never been able to self induce. I now shave my head but, sometimes a haircut would bring it on also.
Well, I wish everyone could live in this state for ever so, please keep doing the research and maybe we can find out some wonders. I bet the Tibetans have a handle on this, hmmmmm?
ArtCraft@hawaii.rr.com
(this goes along with the comment above) I'm also very sensitive in every way: emotionally, physically (skin and face), sensory, and I'm very in-tune with other people's emotions. I'm also very observant and very creative; I remember distinct conversations for months and even years and I never forget a face or a name. I'm an artist and a writer; I also remember that I get the tingling sensation when somebody is looking over my shoulder when I'm writing or drawing or reading. I can also feel it in the back or my head when somebody is staring at me; this doesn't necessarily initiate the sensation but sometimes it does. From what I've concluded, very, VERY sensory receptive people ususally feel this sensation.
I get this feeling when I rub the back of my head or when somebody's face is very close to mine and I'm looking straight into their eyes. It also happens when people smile at me or if someone has a really nice, soft voice. It's usually most intense and shoots down my spine when somebody bites their lip or when I watch a cinematic (overdramatic) kiss. The area of the brain that is in most occurrence with this feeling is in the back, in the optical lobe, so it probably has to do with sight for me.
From a scientific stand point you may want to look up Gamma Brain Waves. These are the fastest recorded brain wave patterns known to us at this time. They oscillate within the range of 40 Hz to 100 Hz. Also, some research does suggest that there is a connection between Kundalini, meditation, and extremely high brain wave patterns. I hope this helps.
Brian H.
Cant stop thinking about this now. If anyone wants to talk about this please, please email me. coleorgill111@msn.com or coletrainfitness@gmail.com. Thanks.
This is awesome! I have always gotten this feeling since I was little. It sucks though because I have no control of it and it comes randomly. I can remember times when I get this feeling in my head vividly. I get it when people are writing things close to me, I got it when this nice lady brought me a weird fruit and touching the fruit made it come on like crazy, and also i used to work at a call center and normally i dont like being on the phone long but this persons voice activated it so i just sat there forever listening to this lady talking about her cats or something, ha ha. Anyways this is so interesting. Glad I found this. Sorry so long.
Felt this feeling since I can remember and only just searched it!knew there would be other people who would experience this sensation but suprised how little is fully known about it!good to see someone is looking into it,can't state how amazed I am by similarities in certain posts! For example I am v.creative and am a musician,song writer,producer! Consider myself to be "gentle" in nature and am good at Reading peoples emotions to!initialy from Reading ur posts I don't think this is coincidence and believe there is possibly something v.great to discover here,but that could be my creative mind doing wonders!lol!for the record my only film trigger ever is off matrix when agent smith unwinds neo's file and flicks through it! Soft spoken people in a quiet atmosphere or the sound of people moving,I.e clothes moving against skin,really quiet sounds basically,but it does have to be in a quiet atmosphere!! Soz for the long post but never mentioned this to anyone before and it feels good to get off my chest :) good luck with the research,il def be monioring it!
Thanks for your thoughtful comments, Prelieator.
You are most welcome to join us at the sites outlined in the ASMR Network above if you wish to talk further about this with us.
I'm also glad to hear that you are willing to help us with the research effort, and if you have the time available, you can put in an application to be a part of the Research team over at http://www.asmr-research.org/.
So glad i found this post, I have been experiencing these sensations almost all of my life with no one to talk to about it. They usually only came to me when i had an epiphany or watched an epic scene in a movie but about a year ago(age 19) i realized some music could trigger it if i concentrated. specifically spiritual music,epic scores or music with epic choir in different languages, specifically Latin or angelic female voices also seem to trigger it. after about a year of focusing on this feeling i can trigger it when i meditate and now i have alot of other things that can trigger it with out me trying.For instance just reading this post triggered it multiple times.The wave usually is triggered in the middle of my back and then spreads in both directions towards my head and feet and almost feels like i am sending energy out of my body.
@Brian i think you might be right because this whole time i have been studying Buddhism and different meditation practices in my spare time and they have absolutely allowed me to expand my ability in regards to this sensation. I am sure there is a scientific explanation of exactly what is happening in the brain but focusing on spirituality is without a doubt what has allowed me to expand the duration and frequency of recurrence.
@Anti-Valentine i am very interested in your research and lists of other possible triggers you may know of.if you can use me in any way to help your study's i am more than willing(other than monetary support,Im a poor college student lol). I can pretty much trigger the feeling at will given a quiet room or the right music.
@anyone reading, add me on facebook i would love to talk about other possible triggers and experiences. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1616115884 just send a message with it relating to this subject so i know you you are not a spam bot or virus.
@Brian
There are spiritual theories such as this in the community for sure, and we've heard a number of them, from Kundalini to Chakra and so on.
The explanation behind yours makes sense. That we can perhaps pick up emotions in a voice, and are intuitive individuals, who are quite adept at picking up certain vibes from people.
But I don't mean to offend anyone here - their theories are their own and it can be whatever they want it to be - but I have become increasingly more science and medicine-focused in trying to explore what we call ASMR.
For this reason I tend to sway away from spiritual theories. But they are numerous, and interesting. Like a lot of things in life, we all have our opinions.
i have been experiencing this sensation for yrs,and it is something i have often wondered if other people too felt it,as like it was said above noone really talks about it,i get it when someone caring is doing something for me,or when watching someone concerntrating hard on something also if i have this feeling then if i stroke the back of my hair line seems to prolong it,this site is great i have been thinking about researching it for a while thanks
It’s a completely spiritual experience. It means that you have a natural spiritual intuitiveness. This is why most of you experience this when people are talking to you in an emotional way. I hope this helps.
Brian H.
I can tell you guys what it is that you're feeling. It means that either your Third eye chakra or your Crown chakra is open. Look them it up!!
Brian H.
Well, that's great! I've had some feedback on the video experiment, but up until now not the audio experiment. Good to see it works for others.
I'll look out for that movie you mentioned Mart - I haven't heard of it as far as I can recall though. But I imagine a REAL full body massage might well trigger something!
Tried that audio experiment.Fantastic, brought it on straight away.If anybody is interested there was a movie with Brian Brown called Full Body Massage. Boring film, but massage scenes (not sexual) do the same thing.
@ Daniel
I thought I didn't get the sensillations from music, but upon listening to my collection, I found that I actually can. I'm not sure if this is a more recent development, but it's great anyway.
By the way, if you do come back, and want to start up an account, then you can go here to do so: http://hubpages.com/_3tzb0unem02ru/user/new/
It's worth it. You can make some hubs, maybe make some money, and chat to people in the forums and so on.
Hey, omg i'm so happy that someone else besides me gets this, :D. I'm 17 and i was feeling sort of weirdly lonely before i discovered this. At first, i thought it was some sort of nostalgic feeling, but when i mentioned it to my best friend, she said she got a smell when something was nostalgic, so i knew it wasn't the case. I usually get ASMR feelings when i listen to music i love, or watch certain parts of a film. Like the star trek nemesis theme. My phone's filled with music that gives me the feeling, but as mentioned here, they get old and it doesn't happen with some of them anymore, so i seek out new songs. The yugioh theme in particular makes it happen, hell even reading this page a second time over gave me a massive 'jolt' of it. Sometimes it originates in the centre of my spine, but mainly from the back of my head and spreads down to my toes. I don't feel so much of a freak anymore :) anyone else feel the same after finding this? I don't have an account but i'll check back here in a few days. :)
You're right when you say it's generally not linked to sexual activity.
It's a theory that's generally accepted within the community that the feeling has something to do with serotonin.
When experiencing sexual feelings, it's been said that one gets a dopamine release - and dopamine has been described by at least one proponent as the "tingle-killer".
Ever since I was kid, this has happened to me. It's a great feeling.I've never felt embarrassed about it and I feel for those that do. It was just something that always happened when I watched people doing "mundane" stuff. One time, I was watching some old guys paint in my factory. I was watching them through a glass divider. I was literally transfixed. I kept this feeling going for almost 10 mintues before I decided I better get home. And as many of you have said, it is defintely NOT sexual. For instance, if I watch somebody vacuum, I can sit there for hours watching them. From time to time, I've wondered what causes this. I even thought that I'd one day like to be hooked up to electrodes while watching somebody do something like mop a floor. Sounds weird. NIce to know, I'm not the only one.
Great hub! I get these feelings too, these kind of waves of excitement in my head.
It was actually most intense when I was sitting in a certain postgraduate maths class; listening to the concepts involved just had this effect on me every time. So much so that I couldn't understand why the other students just saw it as any other class! Slightly weird, eh?
I also experience this when listening to people with Welsh, Irish or Geordie accents, hearing people speak Welsh, Gaelic or Cornish, and seeing people using sign language.
It's interesting that you mention a possible link between having this feeling and synaesthesia, as I am synaesthesic. For me days, numbers and letters have colours, and so do strong feelings. Fascinating stuff!
Very interesting you should mention this John. I've read about theories that have to do with ASMR being linked to a sixth sense, or being the sixth sense itself, and I've also come across those who said it might be the next stage in evolution.
But it could be possible, what you're saying. It's true that there's a very large part of our brains that we don't use, and only a small amount that we do use. I've heard this for as long as I can remember.
And maybe one day when or if ever we do unlock or evolve to a point where we can use more of it, we could achieve wonderful things that we can only dream of for now. Perhaps these "sensillations" are just a taste.
New to this hub and glad to have found it.
I always assumed everyone was capable of achieving this sensation to varying degrees. I have been amazed over the years at both how simple and how difficult it can be to achieve at times.
One of my earliest experiences was when I was about 12 as I was delivering a newspaper to a customer on my route. A man and woman were painting the front porch. As soon as the woman opened her mouth to say hello I was overtaken by this wonderful sensation. I can still hear her voice. I've relived that experience over and over trying to recreate that feeling and it still works once in a while.
I believe ASMR is one of those things that resides in what I call the 85% brain--that part of the brain we haven't evolved enough to take full advantage of yet. That's where I put "sixth sense" kinds of feelings, premonitions, empathic thoughts like they say identical twins have sometimes, psychic abilities such as they are, etc. I think that "animal instincts" that are well-documented such as the ability for some animals to "predict" earthquakes can be explained by the idea of different species evolving in ways that tap parts of their own brains that we haven't accessed yet. Just as animals haven't evolved into speech, we haven't evolved into certain psychic abilities that are resident in our brains but not yet accessible.
Before I get too long-winded, just wanted to say thanks for this forum and I look forward to learning more about this fascinating topic.
@Jocke
Unfortunately I don't know the name of the song, although you can check the video on YouTube and see in the comments if someone else has any idea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qgfRYnrntE
Lita's massageclips channel has plenty of other videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/massageclips
I have had this sensation as early at age 8. It seems to coincide with someone who is either doing a task for me, or has completed a task to my benefit.
It occurs unexpectedly, and does not always occur when the trigger is present.
I am able to replicate the experience to a smaller degree by replaying the trigger events in my mind.
I visualize the event and focus on the details which are associated with the event, and usually I am albe to reexperience the wave, but only to a lesser degree.
The experience is a strong tingling sensation that flows like a wave through my scalp in a pulsating manner.
I love it!
Hi. I'm dying to know what song is played in the audio experiment video up there, the soft piano song. If you know the name of the song please send me an email to jocke_91_ruud@hotmail.com // thank you! Jocke
OMG!!! I'm the only person I know who this happens to! It's been happening for as long as I remember. Triggers for me: Certain soft voices (especially male); having my back tickled/massaged; having my hair played with; watching someone concentrating, whether they're reading/writing/listening/whatever; certain phrases (so random I can't even think of an example)... how weird to find out that others have the same thing! For some reason I never liked to mention it to anyone but when (only a couple of months ago) I did a quick poll on a parenting website I frequent, NOBODY else had ever heard of it!
That's an interesting word you've coined - and you're right that there are some people out there who associate it with sex (as with a lot of things), but rest assured that the amount of people who believe it is non-sexual largely outnumber them.
And seeing as we all ready have several long winded names that turn in to acronyms, it's quite special that you have your own word to describe it. I'll be sure to mention it to the others!
Thanks.
This experience has intrigued me my entire life --- since I was a young child. I also have been frustrated by the lack of information out there, so I am pleased to find this HubPage and your blog.
The word for this experience is sensillation --- I coined the word several years ago and have been using it ever since. This sensation is often described by the same words used in the definition of titillation: "stimulation by touching lightly; tickling" or "exciting another, especially in a superficial, pleasurable manner." However, the word titillation has now come to be so often used in a sexual or gossipy context, it can no longer be used to describe this type of experience which is a sensuous experience, but is usually NON-sexual in its nature.
Thus, the new word sensillation --- a combiniation of 'sensation' and 'titillation'. Writing a definition for my word has been difficult, but this is what I've used for awhile: "The pleasurable, tingling sensation experienced initially in the head and then often spreading in waves down through the rest of the body. This feeling often occurs when one's head or hair is being touched, but is also a physiological response ascribed to a broad variety of auditory, visual, or gentle physical stimulation."
I hope you all will begin using this word --- we certainly do NEED one for this experience! Include sensillations in your conversations on the subject. My husband and I like to use the best and correct words in conversation and in our writing --- and we use sensillations all the time. We tell any and all who will listen that this is the word to use to describe this widespread human experience.
Oops, read my above statement and forgot to mention that the "her" I'm referring to from high school was a dear friend of mine.
I'm glad to find something so definite about this feeling online, rather than everyone else like me going "What is it???".
When I was in high school, I would get this amazing tingly feeling in the back of my head when we did reading assignments aloud. For 5 years, everytime I heard her read, I'd get this feeling. It was amazing. We've since parted ways and I'm dying to hear her read again. lol! I tried explaining this feeling to my mother back then and she thought I was crazy, so I never mentioned it to anyone else. I've been married now for 4 years and haven't even mentioned it to my husband. I don't personally know of anyone else who gets this.
In the past few years, I've found it very hard to trigger this wonderful feeling, which is frustrating.
I occassionally, but too rarely, get it when I'm watching someone attempting to make minor decisions.. thinking. Weird, I know.
I've tried all the whispering, popping, crackling, etc videos on youtube that others have mentioned with no real success.
The only real source I've currently found that works when I want that "high" is the "unbreakable vow" scene from Harry Potter and the HalfBlood Prince, with Bellatrix whispering the vows. Wonderful, wonderful feeling.
I'd love to find out more about this sensation-- what causes it, ways to trigger it.. so I'll be hanging around here quite a bit since finding you. Thanks for bothering with this topic!
@toliasc
Like I said, I once visited a doctor and mentioned the situation, but wasn't taken seriously. Another time I spoke with a doctor who actually experienced what we refer to as ASMR, and he said because it isn't a "pathology" - something to do with disease - it isn't a priority.
A lot of people who talk to others about it in real life are given the wrong sort of reaction, and it discourages them from bothering in the future. But online is a different story. I'm sure one could meet someone online who happens to be in the same area who is also an experiencer. It's a real possibility.
"I can create a tingling feeling throughout my body and I don't know what it means". This is what I googeled and it how I found this page. Amazing that there are people out there that experience the same thing to varying degrees. Thank you for reaching out, I will visit the sites you have recommended. I wonder it has never been recorded that people who experience this phenominon have never met or do not meet in person? Looking forward to delving deeper into the rabbit hole.
I'm 18 and have been experiencing this for as long as I can remember so I decided to research it. I get this wonderful feeling when people play with my hair, listen to a calm and soothing voice or when I watch someone concentrate and doing something carefully. Thanks for the information!
This is incredible, I never knew anybody else had this. This describes it exactly, and the triggers.
I just got the feeling reading some of these posts. I never really looked it up before, so was happy to find that others have written about it. As I was reading Seraph's posting I did lightly scratch the back of my head and it intensified it. I've never done that before. Thanks Seraph, for the idea. In my case I never really noticed it until the last two years or so (I am 30). Maybe it happened my whole life but only recently have I really paid attention to it. Often triggered by really beautiful music for me, as well as many of the other triggers you mentioned. Thanks!
I get these most often in three ways:
Getting my hair cut, listening to someone with a soft calming voice, or watching something relaxing.
All I have to say is it feels awesome and I love getting the feeling.
I get this as well. It seems to happen mostly at the barber when my hair is getting cut and when I get my hair washed. When I get my hair cut it becomes more intense when they spray it with water. I also get it when I am helping someone at random. Sometimes it happens when someone is looking at something that belongs to me for a long time, and really interested in it.
Hey I get this feeling to I get it when listening to music, my mind starts to get really creative and then BAM! there it is that sweet feeling I always thought it was differnt and now i found this site heh heh and.. your right about the misunderstood part and people who are gentle
@Sam
I don't know about sneezing at the sun and ASMR being related, but I also experience both. I once talked about ASMR to a doctor but wasn't taken that seriously.
I'm glad to hear other people actually experience this. I asked a psychologist about this during marriage counseling on a side note and she never heard of such a thing so I thought it was nothing. I also sneeze when I look at the sun, could they be related???
I am so glad to have Googled around a bit and to have found sites that completely understand this feeling! I thought I was the only total weirdo with it. I told a friend once and he told me to seriously consider nerve damage, but it feels so good.
My triggers seem to be a bit different from most others. I do share the someone doing my hair, and hair being washed by a stylist triggers. Other ones were a hypnosis track (just listening to it, not following what it says, I use it now to get my fix lol), one time when my French teacher just walked up to my table, some songs, and it seemed like almost always when we played a game in my French class. My French class was strangely where almost all school ones happened. It seems to happen randomly sometimes too, though I probably just didn't notice what made it happen.
It just so comforting that I'm not the only one! ^^
I get this feeling too, but have never really looked into it rather just enjoyed it. I'm 26, male.
I just got it a minute ago which is how I ended up at your article. One of the girls here at the office came by and gave me a chocolate rice crispy treat as a thank you.
Thinking about it, it seems to trigger when somebody does something nice for me. Like another commenter mentioned, if I continue to think about the nice gesture it prolongs it. I also notice if I lightly scratch the back of my head while it happens it intensifies it.
@likin' it
Quite a few are of the opinion that this feeling isn't at all sexual, while others have claimed to get it when engaging in intimate moments, so it's not at all impossible.
I would imagine from what you describe, you might well be experiencing Type A of this phenomenon which we've labelled ASMR. Type A doesn't need any real external influence for it to be triggered, and you're just thinking about it, which fits the description pretty well.
I have to say first and foremost that I have been happily married and faithful for 8 years. So, here's my story. I recently found out an attractive man who comes into my work somehow likes me. When I think of him I get a total rush of this feeling, tingling, hair standing on end on the left side of my head. It gets more intense when I think of actually kissing him, even though I never ever would. It's so weird and I know it's triggered by the "fantasy." It's happening now just typing about it!! They're my thoughts and I like the sensation. Would never tell anyone though. I feel guilty about it. I think that has something to do with it too.
I have this happen a lot when around a low machine humming noises... I've found if I listen to and Wnglish accent of a woman, and the record has that "airy" background noise it works quite well.
You're welcome Kristen. And I wrote it, by the way. :)
You're not alone. A lot of people always thought they were, but there's a whole community on Facebook, and a few sites that are dedicated to ASMR as well.
Maybe if there's someone in your area, you can meet them in person. I wouldn't be totally against the idea myself. It would be interesting to say the least.
I just wanted to say that I have this syndrome, and for a while I would tell people (very few people) that sometimes when I would listen to people talk, my brain would tickle. I just started researching this recently and I've always wanted to know if there were other pople out there that have the same sensations. I'm very glad that I've finally come at peace with this, because I felt alone. Thank you so much to whoever wrote this article!
I have this kind of feeling when I hear soft-spoken people speak. Ususally older males and sometimes elderly females. It feels really relaxing and sometimes makes me sleepy. It usually happens when I concentrate on a person's voice instead of what they are saying.
I told my bf about this and he said he never had it before so I looked it up to see if others had a same experience and turns out there are! (which is good to hear!)
I dont know if its endorphins but definitely feels like a really soft tingle around the back of my head. and it does feels good :)
PS I am an artist (hobby) and a translator by day. so Im not sure if it is common amongst artists/musicians (my bf does music as a hobby but never experienced this) but it is an interesting theory to look in to!
I have had this kind of feeling, mostly when I visit the doctor or when some promoter's talking to me. It feels good is what it is. I'm just searching the internet to give it a name. I think it might be the female's voice but occasionally male too. But these experiences are getting lesser and lesser every year. I've never shared this with anyone but I'm happy that there are others experiencing this too :)
This is quite a common trigger for people who get the feeling that I don't get! When people borrow your things and use them while you watch.
Sometimes when I was younger and people in school would ask to borrow something, I think it was the whispering so the teachers wouldn't hear (but they did), that set it off more for me.
I've told very few people in real life. Only my mom, and my doctor. My mom didn't really get it, but was supportive, whereas the doctor wasn't interested at all and just wrote it off.
I get this feeling all the time! It happens to me strongest when I give someone permission to use something of mine and then watch them using it. Other times are if I show someone something they didn't know about but end up liking even if it's not mine to begin with, someone playing with my hair, or getting a haircut. The only people I've told are my Mom and my psychologist, and neither had any idea what I was talking about.
Yes, it can be triggered by either gender, like you say, and I've also found that it can possibly occur less often as one gets older. This might vary from person to person though.
Sometimes I do still get it quite strongly. Maybe it's because it becomes more selective or "picky" about what triggers it over the years.
I love this feeling. For me it usually happens when someone (usually a woman, but can be a man if they have a nice, understanding voice) is talking. Or if someone does something very nice for me, depending on who it was. It also occurs when some of the points mentioned in the article are triggered.
Wonderful feeling...too bad it doesn't happen often enough.
Also, I've noticed that one can prolong the feeling if you keep thinking about the event that triggered it
i commonly get this feeling from movie or tv scenes but also as some of you mentioned, watching others do something intricate, when others concentrate or focus from little things to something bigger, not sure how to explain that
Having a hair cut seems to one of the more common triggers that most of us ASMR experiencers have. I also like having my hair washed at the basins, and the girl massages my scalp, and uses warm water.
It's a wonderful experience.
i too experience this sensation. often its when im watching people concentrating on a specific task such as drawing or when im a having my hair cut and i watch the woman concentrating.
Gotcha watchya! Another profile. I still have one of those but hardly use it. ;)
Yes, I'm still learning about all this myself. And there's isn't a whole lot about it online either, but that's starting to change.
Well, I think this hub is great, for it's about something very unusual and mysterious and interesting !
and this is me, tantrum, in case you didn't know ;)
I'm not sure it's the real name for it, seeing as not many people know of it or experience it, it seems. But thanks for showing an interest Tantrum, as always. :)
I never heard about it ! Interesting hub! I'm boookmarking it and will do my research later. Thanks for sharing !
braddles 15 hours ago
I too have had this wonderful experience since I was a child (I'm 38 now). How nice to know I'm not alone after all these years of secretly enjoying this phenomenon.
For me it has generally centred around someones voice (getting instruction, listening to a surveyer ask me questions on the phone, listening to someone read a story). Yes their voice has to be soft and possibly with a certain texture but its the cadence and length of uninterupted speaking that determines how intense I will be able to experience the sensation. Focusing on the sensation intensifies the waves of tingles so the longer they speak the better it is!
If I don't have to pay attention to content (see foreign language reference) or have to respond to someone (surveys excepted it seems) I can lose myself completely in the sensation. My favorite related memory was listening to my grandpa quietly tell stories in german to my father for hours...I was (secretely) in heaven :).
Happy Tingling Everyone!!!