ASMR: Potential cure for insomnia and an aid for anxiety and stress
If you experience insomnia, anxiety, or high levels of stress, I know of something that can help.
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ASMR, or Autonomous sensory meridian response is described as a euphoric experience characterized by a static-like or tingling sensation on the skin that typically begins on the scalp and moves down the back of the neck and upper spine, precipitating relaxation. It has been compared with auditory-tactile synesthesia.
ASMR is usually brought on by stimuli referred to as 'triggers'. Triggers, which are most commonly acoustic and visual, may be encountered through the normal interactions of daily life- the sounds of a softly spoken or whispering voice; the quiet, repetitive sounds resulting from a mundane task such as turning the pages of a book or newspaper, the sounds of someone having their hair brushed-to list a few.
Everyone is unique as to what the effects are. For me to garner the full effect of the tingling euphoria described above it has to involve touch, such as someone running their fingers gently through my hair or softly tickling my neck, arms and back.
There are many however, who can don a pair of headphones and watch and listen to someone having their hair shampooed, snipped and brushed for example, and that's all it takes.
But even the milder effects of this phenomenon are extremely soothing and relaxing.
It was my husband who initially discovered ASMR videos on youtube about three years ago. I have always been an insomniac, and for the most part I can function just fine on four to six hours of sleep per night. However at that particular point in time my oldest stepson, his wife and three small children were living with us and the added stimuli on top of being woken by children at six am (I generally fall asleep between three and four-thirty and wake between seven thirty and nine-thirty) was making it so I was lucky if I managed two or three hours and there were times I would go 36 to 48 hours without even a catnap. It was beginning to affect my moods along with my energy levels.
My husband had become increasingly concerned, but as he is not in favor of pharmaceuticals he was adamant about finding a solution that did not require me to swallow any pills.
I'm happy to report he was successful and on nights where my mind just will NOT shut down I will put on my headphones and one of my favorite ASMR videos, snuggle under my covers and be lolled to sleep.
I've come to enjoy these videos so much that I'll often listen to them while surfing other sites or even just daydreaming. For some they use this as a stress and anxiety reliever, I have a few friends that swear by it for these purposes. To be honest, I'm rarely afflicted by such things for long so I can only say that I find it relaxing in many contexts, so it seems logical it would work for these issues.
I have been listening to these videos for a few years and my tastes have changed a bit from the beginning. For one thing I've found that I am only interested in the auditory effects, meaning I rarely watch the videos in question, mostly I just listen. For some this might be reversed, I know there are a great deal of "role play" style asmr videos, and because it is not my taste I believe it may have more of a visual effect, or perhaps it's the combination. I'm going to put a small variety of videos here that cover most of the different areas of ASMR. For me personally I prefer either whispering videos or a variety of sounds.
Maria Gentlewhispering has been a favorite of mine since the beginning, so I'll put one of her older videos at the top, then end with her newest. It's not only the 'artist' that factors in whether or not a video appeals, but also the equipment they are using, you'll be able to see the contrast between inferior and quality equipment with these two videos.
If you're new to the subject of ASMR and find yourself interested I have a wealth of information to share on the subject, don't hesitate to ask questions :)
Logo made by the incredibly awesome @papa-pepper
Excellent! Binaural beats and the sound of water usually work for me. Anyone talking and whispering keeps me awake to listen to what's being said :) but will check some of the videos thank you.
I hear you, I do have to say that the first time I watch a whispering video I tend to listen, but after hearing it a few times it becomes background. One of the videos is a pure sounds video (Dimitri massage asmr) Ten hours, (sheesh lol), and he has those convenient little time stamps so you can skip around :)
For me, my trigger is a combination of sight and sound, but it's mostly dominated by sight, perhaps because of my visual preference. ASMR is one of those therapies that are so underrated, and are often passed off as pseudoscience. Even if it's psychosomatic, people forget that the end-result is what's important especially for the person who's suffering. Thanks for sharing these videos, my friend. Very helpful resources!
You know, I wonder if that's a masculine/feminine distinction. I should do some research on the statistics. I have noticed that there seems to be more comments about the visual aspects of the videos from men, while women tend to focus more on the sounds. In fact many of the female 'artists' themselves have commented on preferring whisper and sounds videos that they listen to while occupying themselves with other tasks. Also I prefer female ASMR videos to male, so I don't know whether the reverse is true, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it is.
Another thing I can touch on in the next post is the argument over the potentially sexual nature of these videos. I know many of the people who do ASMR, particularly the Americans or Americanized, shy away from sexual connotations. I am a to each their own type of person so I don't see a problem with it being taken sexually, thought I myself don't get that from it. It's also not what I'm looking to get, therefore I watch Maria's videos and others like her that don't put out those vibes.
I love that you know what it is and could chime in here!! We really do have a great deal in common :)
Excellent post, sorry for what has had to happen, imsopnio causes many emotional upset, thank you very much for sharing all these videos of information, congratulations my friend @dreemit for this wonderful post
Thank you for your constant support my darling friend @jlufer!
gosh resteemed to read later. if you only knew how much insomnia i have
I probably have what would be considered a more mild case of it, but I have a really close friend who was struggling for years until it was to the degree that her emotional and psychological well-being were in real danger, and her physical health as a result. I wish that I had discovered this a long time ago for her sake because she did go the path of drugs to alleviate the problem, bringing on a different set of problems as a result. She has recently succumbed to my nagging and started watching some videos and I'm hopeful that she'll at least be able to decrease her intake of chemicals...wish I could report that was already the case but that would be dishonest. I have read many success stories of people overcoming severe insomnia as well as anxiety issues throughout the comments of videos however, and it certainly helps me. If you do find that this helps you as well, I would greatly appreciate it if you let me know! And thank you for resteeming :)
Interesting, I hope to see more on this topic.
Okay :) When I decided to write this up the thought of doing it as a part of a series crossed my mind, but blogging is relatively new for me. I'm primarily a writer of fictional stories short and long, and some anecdotal stories about life. But since there's interest I will definitely follow up on it, it's a good way to exercise my relatively weak blogging muscle, ha! Thanks for commenting.
Fascinating. I learned a lot. Will check out some of the videos soon.
It only just occurred to me that the concept of ASMR is still so new that there was a high probability that many people haven't heard of it. And while writing stories, particularly fiction, is my singular passion, steemit is encouraging me to branch out. In so many ways really. It's a community that truly helps one another and I want to be a part of that in any way I can :)
Your input truly means a great deal to me.
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