xkcd

by **pyronius** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 1:41 pm UTC

So, first off there are multiple far more important things i could be doing right now but my vyvanse has yet to kick in and im a bit distractable at the moment. As such i'm gracing you with my odd query because in general you all appear to be occasionally intelligent (if not always). You should feel great pride at this because that's not a compliment i throw around lightly.

Anyway, i have this issue with my nose. sort of. maybe its more in my brain. the second one is probably more likely. i once mentioned it around my ex and, while looking super surprised, she said that she gets the same thing. At the same time my best friend gave us both a look that said he had no clue what we were talking about and probably needed to be institutionalized.

You see, on occasion and without warning i get this odd sort of smell that isn't really a smell. its like the thought of a smell, but it not a scent that actually exists anywhere in the world. the best way i can describe it is that its like my nose suddenly got a blast of adrenaline shaped like cut grass covered in sour candy dust. more likely something to do with the smell related portion of my brain getting a misfire. what i want to know is whether or not anyone else gets this. based on my ex's reaction i can assure you that if you do you absolutely WILL know what i'm talking about, and based on my friend's reaction if you don't you'll be severely confused.

Here's where it gets weird(er). I had never really thought of what this might mean but my ex said she always assumed it was a bad omen. that's very like her. well after that conversation i considered the idea of it portending some other event. this seemed idiotic and impossible until i thought that maybe it was a migraine aura. I've had migraines my whole life but never really got an aura. It seemed there was a chance it was a really early aura and i'd just never connected the dots due to it being separated by a few days. Being as the weirdness only occurred once every few months i didn't really have a reliable way to test this. it didn't matter, i have just recently had that theory proven wrong.

The next time i "smelled" it i was sitting alone at home and randomly thinking a particularly shameful thought i will absolutely NOT elaborate on for the sake of my dignity. well, I thought that clearly if it wasn't a migraine aura, and i wouldn't know for a few days, then something must have triggered it. So i rethought the exact same thought. it happened again right at the shameful bit... so i did it again. and again. and again. somehow i was able to trigger it through this one shameful thought. each time it got a bit weaker and a bit less defined but it was still there. eventually i was distracted by someone entering the room and i haven't been able to do it again. from this though i determined it was unlikely to be connected to migraines (i didnt get one any time soon) and more likely to be connected to specific thoughts. not sure if the shame was necessary or not.

anyway, that's my anecdote. anyone else experience something similar?
yeah, weird first topic, i know. boredom, vyvanse, procrastination. probably going to post a less confusing somewhat more depressing topic later though because i have no life. so enjoy.

Edit: sorry, I forget sarcasm doesn't come off well in text. those bits were meant to be read as a bit of dry emotionless humor, not seriously. obviously didnt work. I bear no real ill will.

by **roband** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 1:56 pm UTC

Smells can be very strongly associated with memory. It's not uncommon for you to remember a certain smell at the same time as thinking about a certain thing. If the smell and the thing are connected in your brain, I suspect they will remain to be.

by **Fantastic Idea** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 2:00 pm UTC

Hey you know what would be great? Editing your post to have fewer instances of you calling your ex a 'cheating whore' and bitch and whathaveyou.
Then I'd read it!
No really I promise.
There's a lot of emotion in this post that doesn't seem to be directly linked to the topic and it's kind of confusing me.

(Edit: thank you)

by **Argency** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 2:17 pm UTC

Well, I've never experienced the exact phenomenon you're describing, but I do experience something that might be a little bit similar (if less exceptional). I'm going to mention it here anyway because it looks like it might be relevant and I'd love to know if anyone else gets it.

Spoiler:

Anyway, it's interesting that you cite acute shame as the trigger for yours, since that's out of left field as far as smell goes. If you happen to speak to a psychologist/neurologist any time soon, maybe you could mention it and any other symptoms you might have - maybe you've got super secret super powers!

by **Plasma Man** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 2:26 pm UTC

I've occasionally had environmentally triggered phantom smells. The last example was being at work and being able to smell the disinfecting hand rub, even though I hadn't used it (washed my hands instead) and no-one else near me had used it. The weird thing is that I got that on two or three days in succession, then it vanished again.

by **roband** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 2:28 pm UTC

I only have to think about being at my grandmother's house when I was little, and I can smell burnt toast.

It happened once, I was about 7, and I still have it to this day. Like I said, it's pretty common.

by **pyronius** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 2:31 pm UTC

Plasma Man wrote:I've occasionally had environmentally triggered phantom smells. The last example was being at work and being able to smell the disinfecting hand rub, even though I hadn't used it (washed my hands instead) and no-one else near me had used it. The weird thing is that I got that on two or three days in succession, then it vanished again.

roband wrote:I only have to think about being at my grandmother's house when I was little, and I can smell burnt toast.

It happened once, I was about 7, and I still have it to this day. Like I said, it's pretty common.

Ah, but see, you're missing a very important point. it is absolutely not a real smell. i really can't describe it beyond saying its the feeling of a smell. Imagine if you're brain fired and told your eyes that they were seeing a color. not a specific color, just "a color". its like that only my brain says i'm smelling "a really strong smell".

by **Carlington** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 3:40 pm UTC

Argency wrote:Well, I've never experienced the exact phenomenon you're describing, but I do experience something that might be a little bit similar (if less exceptional). I'm going to mention it here anyway because it looks like it might be relevant and I'd love to know if anyone else gets it.

Spoiler:
My strange sensation isn't smell-like, it's touch-like. I experience it was a sort of pleasant almost-itch that spreads in waves and can cover almost my entire body at times. It's brought on mainly when I know someone is inspecting me or one of my belongings - for instance, taking the Myers-Briggs personality test usually triggers it, as does letting someone read my homework. It is definitely not arousal, although when I described it to people as a child (clumsily, for lack of words) they often thought it was. That's was always an exceptionally awkward conversation. Can anyone relate?

Yes. Ooh man, it feels nice. Glad I'm not the only one. =P

by **DSenette** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:49 pm UTC

i've got both the smell thing and argency's tinglies thing (though the tinglies aren't always a good thing). i have nothing that i can directly tie either of them too except for some items that have specific memories that go with them (for some reason there's this weird smell that doesn't actually exist, but causes an episode of gumby to play in my brain)

by **TheMaskedGecko** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 12:15 am UTC

I get the smell thing too! Sometimes on a sunny day I'll get a not-quite-whiff of something a bit like cigarettes would smell if they didn't smell like cigarettes (yes, I'm aware that description doesn't make sense, but its the best I've got). It comes and lodges in my nose (or brain) for about five minutes and then goes again. I can't really link it to any real smells I know and doesn't act in quite the same way. If I smell something else while the phantom scent is still there, it doesn't get blocked out but the phantom smell acts as a sort of filter, changing other smells.

by **You, sir, name?** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 5:27 pm UTC

ITT: Synesthesia

by **sockpoppet** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 6:24 pm UTC

roband wrote:Smells can be very strongly associated with memory. It's not uncommon for you to remember a certain smell at the same time as thinking about a certain thing. If the smell and the thing are connected in your brain, I suspect they will remain to be.

I get exactly the opposite thing. Sometimes a slight smell immediately rings a bell. "It smells like my grandparents' house/my school/that dish my mother used to make/that hotel I once stayed in 6 years ago!". Sometimes I have to spend a few minutes to remember exactly where I remember it from though.

Sometimes I'm in my room and I think something, then I go somewhere else (e.g. the kitchen) and I can't remember what it was, then I go back to my room and it hits me again. Sometimes it happens with a street: "oh, last time I was here I had to go buy X!".

by **Samik** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 6:36 pm UTC

Carlington (The Aussie) wrote:
Argency wrote:Well, I've never experienced the exact phenomenon you're describing, but I do experience something that might be a little bit similar (if less exceptional). I'm going to mention it here anyway because it looks like it might be relevant and I'd love to know if anyone else gets it.

Spoiler:
My strange sensation isn't smell-like, it's touch-like. I experience it was a sort of pleasant almost-itch that spreads in waves and can cover almost my entire body at times. It's brought on mainly when I know someone is inspecting me or one of my belongings - for instance, taking the Myers-Briggs personality test usually triggers it, as does letting someone read my homework. It is definitely not arousal, although when I described it to people as a child (clumsily, for lack of words) they often thought it was. That's was always an exceptionally awkward conversation. Can anyone relate?

Yes. Ooh man, it feels nice. Glad I'm not the only one. =P

Count me in too on the not-quite-itch thing.

Or, rather, I used to get it. It's funny, I didn't even realize until just now that I haven't gotten it in years and years - somewhere along the line it stopped. But just reading your description brought the memory back sharply.

Mine had nothing to do with personal scrutiny, though. I got it when listening to people read. Not about anything in particular. Just reading. :Shrugs:

by **Argency** » Mon Apr 02, 2012 3:19 pm UTC

Well, I for one am stoked that I'm not alone on this one.

xkcd

Smell that isn't a smell: or "how i feel shame"

Smell that isn't a smell: or "how i feel shame"

Re: Smell that isn't a smell: or "how i feel shame"

Re: Smell that isn't a smell: or "how i feel shame"

Re: Smell that isn't a smell: or "how i feel shame"

Re: Smell that isn't a smell: or "how i feel shame"

Re: Smell that isn't a smell: or "how i feel shame"

Re: Smell that isn't a smell: or "how i feel shame"

Re: Smell that isn't a smell: or "how i feel shame"

Re: Smell that isn't a smell: or "how i feel shame"

Re: Smell that isn't a smell: or "how i feel shame"

Re: Smell that isn't a smell: or "how i feel shame"

Re: Smell that isn't a smell: or "how i feel shame"

Re: Smell that isn't a smell: or "how i feel shame"

Re: Smell that isn't a smell: or "how i feel shame"

Who is online