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ASMR: The 'Unnamed Feeling'

No, Bob Ross has been on UK tv, but only cable/satellite (Discovery Shed most recently). He's almost Zen to watch.
 
Zoffre said:
I'm not much of a fan of hers,

o_O
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Two of my all-time favourite ASMR videos are by her, but most of her other videos don't reach me in the same way. That's probably typical of most of the ASMRtists for me.


 
Simon said:
Two of my all-time favourite ASMR videos are by her, but most of her other videos don't reach me in the same way.
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I think she does do some good stuff too, but for some reason I get the overwhelming feeling that there's something not quite right about her. It's almost as if her whole channel and persona have been "manufactured" in some way, though it's difficult to pin down exactly what makes me think this. If you're aware of the "Departure 2" debacle, then you might get where I'm coming from. That was so over the top, had a "big budget" feel and was not what I associate with ASMR at all.
 
As I am going deaf, the whole 'quiet talking' thing annoys me. A lot.
And you're right - somebody has spotted a trend and has made lots of videos to fill a niche in the market.
'Manufactured' might be correct.
 
On a slight tangent; whilst coming to terms with her mother's Alzheimers diagnosis, a friend of mine told me the first clue she had that something was amiss was when the TV was permanently on the Shopping Channel. Her mum had previously had no interest in that type of show, but had gone on to subscribe and make lots of purchases, which were piled up in a wardrobe! Jewellery and saucepans seemed to be the main objects of desire.

I came across a discussion on the eBay sellers forum, where someone who was not a business seller was explaining why she had 57 pairs of unworn earrings for sale. The same thing had happened to her relative. Apparently those JML etc. channels are soothing and attractive to people with Dementia.
 
That is a fascinating observation. I'll have to ask my sister if her Mum-in-law watches a lot of that stuff. She is going quietly dotty.
Christmas day will be interesting.
 
Mythopoeika said:
I'm not sure this phenomenon works on me, but I do find watching Bob Ross at work curiously restful.
I'm not particularly a fan of his painting style, but his videos are quite good.
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Ah, that's the guy known as "God" on the comedy Peep Show, if I recall correctly.

Found a channel with several of God's shows running back to back one day, The Fiance and I found it very relaxing.
 
Mythopoeika said:
As I am going deaf, the whole 'quiet talking' thing annoys me. A lot.
And you're right - somebody has spotted a trend and has made lots of videos to fill a niche in the market.
'Manufactured' might be correct.
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Im with Mythopoeika on this, quiet voices are very annoying. I find mundane jobs soothing, i love to iron, and shop, i find it relaxing. And i suffer from tinnitus and can find that soothing one day and tipping me over the brink of madness another.
 
Quiet voices only sometimes work for me.

Pouring lemonade over ice into a glass is far more likely to elicit this response.

There's something to it all.
 
A while back I was reading about the differences between the sensations of ASMR and frisson. Frisson appears to be chills, frequently associated with music - http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00790/full
whereas ASMR is...well, what this thread is about. One person described it as feeling as if her head were a snow globe.

I have not as yet experienced ASMR the way it's been described, but do experience something else that's not quite frisson, either. More like an intensely pleasurable sensation in the pit of my stomach, which is not sexual BTW. It occurs in very specific situations which are frankly a bit weird. For instance, reading map directions (especially extraneous ones) or reading the weather forecast for another town (but not my own).

The things that cause this sensation are maybe marginally related, so I wonder if it's a psychological quirk, or if these things are stimulating some unusual connection in my brain. I've been looking for reports of similar sensations that don't quite match ASMR or frisson, but so far no luck.
 
Ulalume said:
A while back I was reading about the differences between the sensations of ASMR and frisson. Frisson appears to be chills, frequently associated with music - http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00790/full
whereas ASMR is...well, what this thread is about. One person described it as feeling as if her head were a snow globe.

I have not as yet experienced ASMR the way it's been described, but do experience something else that's not quite frisson, either. More like an intensely pleasurable sensation in the pit of my stomach, which is not sexual BTW. It occurs in very specific situations which are frankly a bit weird. For instance, reading map directions (especially extraneous ones) or reading the weather forecast for another town (but not my own).

The things that cause this sensation are maybe marginally related, so I wonder if it's a psychological quirk, or if these things are stimulating some unusual connection in my brain. I've been looking for reports of similar sensations that don't quite match ASMR or frisson, but so far no luck.
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Frisson = eargasm? That's possible to reach with some music. The chill down your spine when listening to the right music(that is right for you)
 
Ulalume said:
I have not as yet experienced ASMR the way it's been described, but do experience something else that's not quite frisson, either. More like an intensely pleasurable sensation in the pit of my stomach, which is not sexual BTW. It occurs in very specific situations which are frankly a bit weird. For instance, reading map directions (especially extraneous ones) or reading the weather forecast for another town (but not my own).
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That is seriously, seriously unique! I get ASMR, but I would love to experience that!
 
Vardoger said:
Frisson = eargasm? That's possible to reach with some music. The chill down your spine when listening to the right music(that is right for you)
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The only time I have experienced this was in 1995 in a record store in New Zealand. The record playing was 'Breakfast In Bed' by Dusty Springfield. I had heard the UB40 & Chrissy Hynde cover, but not the original. The only thing I can compare Dusty's voice as soon as she started singing is honey dripping off a rack from a bee's hive on a hot summers day.
It was that good.....
 
Simon said:
The only time I have experienced this was in 1995 in a record store in New Zealand. The record playing was 'Breakfast In Bed' by Dusty Springfield. I had heard the UB40 & Chrissy Hynde cover, but not the original. The only thing I can compare Dusty's voice as soon as she started singing is honey dripping off a rack from a bee's hive on a hot summers day.
It was that good.....
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ASMR doesn't work for me. I need music.

Three songs able to create frissons:


 
Vardoger said:
ASMR doesn't work for me. I need music.

Three songs able to create frissons:
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Oh yes, that does it for me. His style of delivery is excellent. How he can sing that song like that without shedding a tear is beyond me.
 
I have never experienced anything like what's being described in this thread. Hopefully one day I will find something that sets it off, though, as I'm intrigued.
 
I recall watching the video for R.E.M.'s Everybody Hurts in the gym when I heard the song for the first time. I nearly started blubbing on the treadmill. I am indeed, as the eldest told me. an 'emotional car crash'.
 
Carse said:
I have never experienced anything like what's being described in this thread. Hopefully one day I will find something that sets it off, though, as I'm intrigued.
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Interesting- I hoped that someone might say this (I myself have experienced the effect- but much-less as I've aged, and, with reduced 'symptoms' through the effects of constant fatigue from work that is sometimes nearly sub-lethal)

May I ask you a few rather-direct pseudo-psychometric questions?

Do you especially-seek or specifically-avoid thrills (eg roller-coasters/motorcycling/extreme sports)?

Are your general reaction times good (eg are you a fast-but-safe driver, can you catch crockery before it hits the deck, are you good at raquet sports)? Or do you tend to be the converse of these?

Do you consider yourself to be a nervous person (jump/scream if very surprised, or are you generally steely-calm)?

Do you dream vividly/rarely/never?

Do you sleep lightly or deeply?

Do you consider yourself to be a practical person or a fantasist at heart?

If you suffer loss (of ANY) type, do you laugh it off/ take it in your stride/ go bananas?

Do you consider yourself immediately understood by friends, or do they struggle to understand your motivations?

ps please feel free to leave gaps, or tell me to go to hell

pps I am intrigued by the possibility that there could be people that are (very unlike yourself), in an almost-constantly in a state of ASMR / frisson arousal. It is a very under-investigated area of human experience
 
....I think the wonderful Joan Bakewell said something along those lines when she did a doc about porn a few years ago. That, after a time, porn is rather boring & mechanical....

Hmmm, porn with Joan Bakewell.

Kind of thing that President Makron may be interested in.

INT21:evil:
 
The opening couple of bars of 'River deep and Mountain High' always sends a shiver down my spine.

INT21
 
May I ask you a few rather-direct pseudo-psychometric questions?

Do you especially-seek or specifically-avoid thrills (eg roller-coasters/motorcycling/extreme sports)?


Avoid any sport that puts me at unnecessary risk of injury. But I exclude motor cycling from this as I am in control.



Are your general reaction times good (eg are you a fast-but-safe driver, can you catch crockery before it hits the deck, are you good at raquet sports)? Or do you tend to be the converse of these?

Drive quickly but not recklessly. quite fast reactions. Too old for sports these days.

Do you consider yourself to be a nervous person (jump/scream if very surprised, or are you generally steely-calm)?

Nerves of Titanium; strong as steel, but lighter.

Do you dream vividly/rarely/never?

Rarely

Do you sleep lightly or deeply?

Lightly and badly.

Do you consider yourself to be a practical person or a fantasist at heart?

Bit of both. Would be more practical if I could afford it.

If you suffer loss (of ANY) type, do you laugh it off/ take it in your stride/ go bananas?

Take it in stride.

Do you consider yourself immediately understood by friends, or do they struggle to understand your motivations?

Friends, what friends ?


INT21
 
Yithian said:
Quiet voices only sometimes work for me.

Pouring lemonade over ice into a glass is far more likely to elicit this response.

There's something to it all.
Click to expand...

I just occured to me to mention that I had very sensitive skin as a child and in states of excitement another person's touch was unbearably ticklish.

I've never made the link before, but the lemonade over ice sensation is very similar.
 
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Ermintruder said:
Interesting- I hoped that someone might say this (I myself have experienced the effect- but much-less as I've aged, and, with reduced 'symptoms' through the effects of constant fatigue from work that is sometimes nearly sub-lethal)

May I ask you a few rather-direct pseudo-psychometric questions?

Do you especially-seek or specifically-avoid thrills (eg roller-coasters/motorcycling/extreme sports)?

Are your general reaction times good (eg are you a fast-but-safe driver, can you catch crockery before it hits the deck, are you good at raquet sports)? Or do you tend to be the converse of these?

Do you consider yourself to be a nervous person (jump/scream if very surprised, or are you generally steely-calm)?

Do you dream vividly/rarely/never?

Do you sleep lightly or deeply?

Do you consider yourself to be a practical person or a fantasist at heart?

If you suffer loss (of ANY) type, do you laugh it off/ take it in your stride/ go bananas?

Do you consider yourself immediately understood by friends, or do they struggle to understand your motivations?

ps please feel free to leave gaps, or tell me to go to hell

pps I am intrigued by the possibility that there could be people that are (very unlike yourself), in an almost-constantly in a state of ASMR / frisson arousal. It is a very under-investigated area of human experience
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Here are my answers...

1) I don't seek thrills. I did a bit of climbing when I was in my 20s, mostly on indoor walls, which is adventurous as I've ever got.

2) I consider myself to have have reasonably quick reactions.

3) I'm not generally nervous, I can't remember the last time something startled me or made me jump.

4) & 5) I have vivid dreams and am a deep sleeper. Once I slept through a magnitude 7 earthquake while on holiday.

6) I'm very practical day to day, though I do tend to fantasise about things (Walter Mitty stuff like winning the lottery, or being a world famous movie star etc..) when I'm lying in bed as I find it a pleasant and guaranteed way of falling asleep.

7) I usually rage and seeth and boil for a few days then tend to shrug things off. When I was passed over for promotion at work last year I smashed a cup in front of my startled colleagues and was in a really foul mood for weeks, but now I'm only slightly annoyed thinking about it. I have a very strong sense of moral justice so when I see what I perceive to be an injustice being commited I tend to get worked up about it. In the case of my non-promotion it was a graduate who had only been with the company for 4 months getting a management job ahead of me, when I'd been with the company working in front line supervisory roles for 12 years and had been promised that my appointment was "a formality" by the recruiting manager. Sorry if that sounds really bitter but it did hurt at the time.

8) I don't believe any of my friends or family understand the way I think or feel about things. Sometimes my sister will say something like "oh that's typical of you, I thought you'd say that" and I think "really?" to myself. Obviously everything I do is entirely justified and logical from my point of view but then that's true of everyone. I consider myself to be a very logic driven person, especially when making decisions at work.

In terms of this ASMR thing, I wish I could say I've experienced it but it really is completely alien to me. Thinking about the questions you've asked probably the closest I've come to it is the feeling that you get in the seconds just before falling while climbing. You know you're about to fall and you know there's nothing you can do to stop yourself and then you fall and the rope stops you (hopefully!). I found it really exhilarating and addictive; I used to love that feeling and it's quite unlike any other thrill I've experienced before or since. I still wouldn't describe it in the same way as the ASMR feeling has been described on this thread though.
 
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