ASMR

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WOW.

i didn't know this was a thing. but it makes so much sense.

i think this is 90% of the reason i'm obsessed with origami. the combination of the paper's texture on my fingertips and the sound of my skin rubbing across the fibers... the crinkle, the crumple, the soft scratchy quality of paper against paper...

thanks for the insight, video suggestions, and the massive thought-loop i've just had in regard to asmr!

Late to this thread, but by heck I've just had a revelation this very night.

I'd never heard of the term ASMR before - and looking at the Wikipedia entry its highly, er, 'disputed'. Not that wikipedia is any use as a first reference of course.

I've had this ... 'ability'? ...shall we call it? all my life. In fact I collect videos, audio recordings, and I jot notes that provide memory triggers of when this happens.

The sensation is always pleasurable - highly pleasurable in fact - and accompanied by a great sense of calm.

It has an 'arc', usually somewhere around 10 minutes, though in its most intense form it can last a bit longer - say 20 minutes tops.

Sorry for the Too Much Information but in the interests of information completeness - if I masturbate whilst under the influence of this sensation, the orgasm I experience is extremely intense and can almost cause a blackout. I'm male, and not used to such things

Also, it causes such muscle relaxation (I am guessing), that generally when the sensation wears off I have to rush to the toilet and void my bowels.

The trigger is usually voice, though I have noticed that, with me anyway, common factors that will trigger it are (and have more power in combination also):
* Low spoken voice (low volume but also soft tone)
* Hand gestures, especially slow
* Intimacy - as in if the speaker's focus appears to be directed specifically at me; this also works if the speaker is just good at conveying that impression, ie. a good public speaker/lecturer
* A European or Slavic foreign accent

On youtube I've been watching Jim Winter's Palm Reading videos, even though I think Cheiromancy is a load of bunkum (hardcore atheist, me, but he's such a nice guy and has such a voice). And today I discovered this woman, she seems to be deliberately aiming at this effect:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIcFfOm_f4Y

I'm very interested in this now. And additionally because I'm conducting Learning Systems research at the moment for a Masters thesis. And of course, because I'm an Aspie !

I would love to hear from other people with respect to this effect.
I can't believe its got a name, but I'm glad it does - it took me decades to discover 'Aspergers' after all

Ah, and a rather interesting thread on another site (ignore the serotonin guff):
http://www.reddit.com/r/asmr/comments/g ... n_release/

Update:
Well I'll be! There are a *heap* of dedicated ASMR videos on youtube, just put the acronym into its search.

Watching/listening to this right now, and it is producing a mild ASMR-type reaction.

Slightly off-topic: I would get these types of sensations from certain logos. Are any of you familiar with this site: Closing Logos Group Wiki?

For example: the SFM Media logo would ALWAYS give me that weird tingling sensation. ALWAYS.

If you browse through the site, you'll notice that one of the features of each entry is "Scare Factor"--the degree to which people find these logos "frightening." Two of the most [in]famous examples are the Viacom "V of Doom" and the Screen Gems "S From Hell." Personally, I have never been actually "frightened" by either one, but did/do get the ASMR-type reaction from them both, to some degree.

A close runner-up to these is WGBH Boston.

Since a couple of you reported that the ASMR reaction was NOT a pleasant one, do you think that some people are just reacting this way to the "scary" logos and misinterpreting the reaction as fear?

Just a thought...my mind is very weird.

Logos thing sounds fascinating! I will look up, thanks for the tip.

But one thing: Are you sure you are not confusing ASMR with 'Frisson' ? Which appears to be a common mistake.
My apologies if you are not, I don't mean to insult you.

For completeness:

Frisson refers to a thrill sensation usually accompanied by a feeling of internal tension, and the raising of the hairs on the body, usually the arms and the back of the neck, sometimes the scalp.
We all feel this sensation when we are moved by something, upon a dramatic realization, and by music and video (or live performance) that 'picks us up and throws us' emotionally.

ASMR - remembering that that is just a neologism and 'label', it doesnt really say anything about what this effect actually is - is a different sensation altogether, though it does contain a core of what might be called a 'thrill'. 'Thrill' in the olde worlde medical sense, not in the dramatic sense, ie. an 'electric' sensation.
But ASMR is also highly (very highly) pleasurable, and calming. I have not so far in my searches heard of it being 'scary' or 'distressing', speaking anecdotally.

Hmm...actually, I never heard of "frisson" before. I will take a look. Thanks.

I usually find ASMR pleasurable myself, if a bit overwhelming in some cases. Regarding the posters in this thread who say they don't--that's why I wasn't quite sure.

Yeah same, new one on me! I can't imagine it being unpleasant! The initial onset is a bit like a serotonin-rush, which you pretty much get with any drug onset (everything from alcohol to amphetamines) - I have had serotonin rushes, including ones brought on by colds, that were so strong they made me nauseous....

Hmmm, gotta wonder!

I found this thread doing a search on asmr and autism after I read this posting on another site:

-sorry can't post this link due to anti-spam policy of this board but will follow-up with it once I can-

This story got me wondering if those of us that enjoy ASMR are somehow in the realm of autistic people. It doesn't seem unreasonable to think that and indeed it seems plausible, all be it would need further research.

I've also recently found out I suffer from misophonia. Something I've always experienced but didn't know it was a real condition.

Never knew it had a name, I kind of always thought it in terms of "hair standing on end" or "it gave me goosebumps".

I get the tingling at the back of the neck running down my spine, mostly when anticipating a particular drop or rise in a piece of music I love, or good part in some other entertainment. But get it at other times where not anticipating too, I think. I've never really thought deeply about the feeling, so have not really thought hard about when and why it happens, or if it is "normal".

(Also a Misophonia sufferer here. Mainly from chewing and white noise generating devices. I wouldn't care to even guess that they are related).

Supposedly it is quite common to be an ASMR enjoyer if you are also a misophonia sufferer.

Never heard the term Misophonia until today, thank you! And yes I have that too.
Sometimes it is reasonable - people who chew with their mouth open need to be stabbed in the face, we all know that - sometimes it is not.
Its changed too - when I was 10 I could not *stand* the sound of a teaspoon against china when stirring, even if I was the one stirring, but that has gone away.
Yes I wonder if there is a link.

That definitely sounds like Frisson

^Yep. The distinction, as far as I can tell, is this:

Frisson: emotional stimulus (the way a full piece of music makes you feel)
ASMR: physical stimulus (individual sound/tone, touch, etc.)

Sound about right? Any thoughts on this?

I think what I've always experienced is a combination of both. A friend of mine is the same way--he's always just called it the "goosebumps effect."

No, sorry, the sensations are quite different! Yet related.

I'll qualify that, they are different for me

Frisson is what I get from live Heavy Metal, good Electronica, good Classical, from Prospero's speech near the end of the The Tempest, from Gus Fring and Walter Whites' first encounter in Breaking Bad. Its pleasurable but in the way a thrill is pleasurable, and it can even have a quite bitter edge to it too.

ASMR is completely pleasurable, and there is no 'righteous lift' to it, as it were. The world goes away and there is no extended view into your own existentialism, like there is with Frisson - that feeling of power that Frisson brings. Rather, there is only the ASMR 'session', and the the rest of the world just 'goes away'.

For me they are very different sensations and quite separately classifiable. But thats me, I stress again.

I just got shown a brilliant ASMR video, I have it on in the background while I'm typing this and its definitely triggering me. If I was watching the video as well as listening to the audio it would be zapping me completely:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKIcZkwm6RY

I'd be interested to know, does this video have any effect on you? The result does not really offer much data, but I'm just curious.

This reminds me of Gomez Addams coming unglued when Morticia speaks French

I've always had this sensation. Especially when I was younger. I never thought about it much as I've heard people talking about stuff that gives you the chills or makes your body tingle. It's more on the pleasant side if it's something like music that does it. And more on the unpleasant side if something like loud crinkling cellophane does it. Someone scratching themselves while wearing nylon type clothing used to be the worst. I remember a teacher who used to scratch her leg while wearing nylon stockings and it driving me bonkers sending sharp pins and needles all over my head and spine.

Yeah, me too. It always reminded me of Spider Man's "spidey sense". And I usually get it right before something happens, like the phone ringing or someone knocking on the door.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Kek3GqbsTk[/youtube]

@BoltOn: yes, it did. Thanks for sharing.