Riverside students might know ASMR because of a meme that popped up on Instagram or Twitter such as the little ginger girl who’s eating the honeycomb or the women who’s eating a pickle while typing on a keyboard.
But long before famous people started producing these videos, ASMR was a real thing that helps some people manage real medical conditions.
ASMR stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. ASMR may also be known as AIHO (attention induced head orgasm) or AIE (attention induced euphoria). The main purpose behind ASMR is to help people with anxiety and to help people relax. It may also help people with insomnia.
ASMR started back in 2010 by Jennifer Allen. She began to study and understand it and came up with the term of ASMR. ASMR started to become popular in 2017. In 2018 ASMR became more popular because of famous YouTubers trying it out and famous people exploring it. Also because of people making fun of it on social media.
Celebrities such as Cardi B, Gal Gadot, Margot Robbie or Cara Delevingne explore and experiment with ASMR.
Celebrities are experimenting with ASMR to understand what the hype is all about and to understand there are people out there who enjoy certain sounds. While these celebrities are experimenting they enjoy it and laugh at it while also trying to get good sounds for people who get triggered.
ASMR not only focuses on that but it can also help with things such as loneliness, feeling isolated, depression, mood swings, worry, grief, poor concentration, and general stress.
Some people watch ASMR because it’s entertaining to them and not so much about getting the sensational feelings behind ASMR.
“There are times I watch them to fall asleep but I don’t end up falling asleep because I want to watch more,” said junior student Maria Cabrera.
When people watch ASMR videos they expect to get tingles. ‘Tingles are a static-like tingling sensation that typically begins on scapland moves down the back of the neck and upper spine. According to Joe Lee, an editor for MakeUseOf. Viewers get these tingles when you listen to soft voices, unique sounds or soothing sounds such as scratching, crunching, tapping, whispering and or brushing.
For example, ASMRtist (A person who makes ASMR vidoes) makes videos that use sounds likely to trigger extreme tingles. ASMR triggers include eating sounds, whispering, or tapping on objects.
There are also visual triggers, such as physical touch and hand and light movements. For example, role plays. Where people pretend to be doctors or teachers ect.
“I like watching ASMR videos where they eat aloe vera.” said junior Nikky ortiz
Not everyone understands ASMR. This is because they don’t get tingles. They don’t feel any type of sensation from the sounds. Most people won’t get tingles, they’ll just watch from the entertainment. Other people don’t like ASNR because they get triggered by the sounds but in a negative way.
“I find it weird that people record themselves eating.” said senior student Gabriela Angel.
Every person has different triggers and every individual experiences ASMR in a different way. Some use to it to actually help them or just for entertainment. ASMR is like meditation and can help stimulate the body’s natural release of oxytocin. Although ASMR videos do help people, ASMRtist do put disclaimers in their description that these videos are meant to entertain people and help them relax. They do want people to know that ASMR is not like medication and if you have serious problems with sleeping and or anxiety to consult your physician.
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