ASMR, or Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, is a unique condition that has emerged online
in the last few years, characterized by this awesome tingling sensation along the scalp neck and shoulders
when triggered by certain sounds.
The most common triggers for ASMR are whispering
and crisp sounds such as tapping and crinkling.
One defining characteristic though is that all of the sounds are made within close proximity
of the listener.
In fact, "close attention" is a recurring theme in ASMR videos and role-playing is often
used to accomplish that.
Real ASMRtists also use binaural microphones to accomplish real interactive sounds that
puts the listener in the room with them.
Not everybody gets these sensations when listening to trigger sounds, and many of the symptoms
are only anecdotally reported by members of the ASMR community.
In fact little to no scientific research has proven that ASMR actually exists.
However, look on any of the popular ASMR video channels on YouTube to see that this
phenomenon is very real.
The most popular of these ASMR channels is of course GentleWhispering a.k.a. Maria who
has accumulated over 173 million views since 2011.
There's also Whisper Talk Studios, Heather Feather, Massage ASMR, Ephemeral Rift and
ASMR Requests.
In the one study that has been done about this topic, researchers found that participants
mostly used ASMR videos as a source of relaxation and for dealing with stress.
Some participants even admitted that ASMR helped to relieve depression.
However like I mentioned before no real scientific research has been done on ASMR so please don't go
replacing your antidepressants with Heather Feather videos.
So how do you know if you have ASMR?
Well you could pick up a nice set of binaural-friendly headphones and go over to one of those YouTube channels
and see for yourself.
Or maybe this can help.
[whispers] I have this pack of Sour Patch Kids if you'd like some.
Here, let me
Let me open this pack of Sour Patch Kids for you.