Hello, I'm Dr Emma Gray, and I'm The ASMR Psychologist. And, in this video, I am going
to explain the secret behind the phenomenon that is ASMR, or Automatic Sensory Meridian
Response. Okay, so the way that we respond to ASMR triggers
can tell us a lot about our psychology—in particular, our very, very early experiences,
maybe the first few months of our lives. So, if you think about it, it would seem that
nature has designed ASMR to help very small babies. Consider the triggers. Soft, gentle
whispering, like a mother whispering to a small baby. Personal care and attention. Rhythmic
side-to-side movements, like rocking a small baby. And also, eating sounds, particularly
swallowing and lip-smacking—reminiscent of a baby bottle or breastfeeding, or a small
child eating, usually with their mouth open. Now, it seems that ASMR may help a child develop
mentally. So, first of all, with their brain development, because ASMR triggers an REM
sleeplike state, and REM sleep is very important for learning, memory, and, also, emotional
regulation. It may also be important for helping a child to bond and form attachments because
ASMR triggers a hormone called 'oxytocin', which is often referred to as the 'love hormone',
and this facilitates social connection and bonding.
Now, this might explain why we have such strong reactions to ASMR triggers, both positive
and, sometimes, negative, and the fact that they are hard to make sense of, because when
we experience ASMR as an adult, it triggers memories of similar experiences, experiences
that we've had in the past—memories of those experiences, so, memories from those very
first few months of our lives. But, such early memories are non-verbal because, of course,
babies can't speak. So, these memories are instead stored as feelings,
as sensory experiences, in something that psychologists call the 'cloud'.
Now, when memories from the cloud are triggered, we are flooded with strong feelings and sensory
experiences, not words and pictures, like if a memory from a later time was triggered.
And, these memories, because of their format, because they are a bundle of feelings and
sensory experiences, are hard to make sense of. They're also overwhelming, sometimes in
a good way, but sometimes in a not so good way, particularly if the memories are of discomfort;
so, if, for example, your mother struggled in those first few months and years, maybe
she suffered from postnatal depression, or maybe she was just finding being a mother
hard, because it is hard—particularly, if you were her first baby.
Okay, so, our responses to ASMR have the potential to tell us quite a lot about our psychology—in
particular, those very early experiences. So, I think, particularly if you're experiencing
discomfort of some description in response to an ASMR trigger, it might be worth exploring
this a little more because it's more likely than not that it's not just ASMR triggers
that are triggering memories from your cloud and making you feel uncomfortable. It's quite
likely this is happening in other situations—other seemingly neutral triggers are resulting in
you feeling quite strongly about something. Okay, now, knowing this, knowing that a memory
from your cloud has been triggered is the first step towards disentangling what's happening
to you now, and what happened to you back then. It's the first step to stepping back
from these very strong emotions that might be interfering with how you're interacting
with the world now. You know, you feel something very, very strongly—you might find yourself
feeling quite angry, and not quite being able to understand why. If it is the case that
you're frequently feeling very strong emotions, maybe frequently feeling quite surprised that
you're feeling so strongly about something—it doesn't quite make sense—the strength of
your emotion doesn't quite fit with what is going on. There is a therapy that is specifically
designed to help with those very early experiences and the impact that they have on our day-to-day,
and it's called, 'Schema-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy', or 'Schema-Focused CBT'.
And, if this is something that you're interested in knowing more about, I will put the link
to some information in the description for this video.
Okay, I hope this was helpful. If it was, let me know in the comments, give me an up
thumb. And, if it wasn't, give me a down thumb, and let me know what it was that you didn't
like. Of course, we are right at the beginning of
understanding the psychology behind ASMR, so all of your comments, all of the information
that you can provide is going to be useful in terms of building a picture of this phenomenon
and its purpose in our lives. Okay, so, thank you for watching, and I will see you soon.
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