<p>The feeling is most widely known as ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) or just the ‘unnamed feeling’. Its sort of a tingling sensation that resonates in the head. Kind of like a pleasurable electric current. People often describe ASMR as immensely euphoric – as they best feeling they’ve ever experienced</p>
<p>It can be triggered a variety of ways. From sounds (tinkling, crinkling, whispering); from physical stimulation (hair cuts, soft touching of the hair or shoulders, sunlight, wind); or from feelings of awe (often induced by certain scenes in movies or literature or real life – moments where your struck by the ineffable vastness or magnitude of something – where a sense of profundity really hits you). These are just some of the triggers, of course. For different people it’s different.</p>
<p>I was pressed to look it up today, after having experienced it quite frequently lately. A few passages from the Bible (which I’m reading for my biblical lit. class) have set it off pretty intensely. In the past I’ve got it from haircuts and movies, and so on.</p>
<p>If you’ve experienced this, feel free to chime in! What were the trigger(s) and how would you describe it? Hopefully we can learn more about it and ourselves from sharing. There seems to be a particular subset of people that feel it (or at least the frequency of the feeling is correlated with personality types – ones which are probably overrepresented here on CC).</p>
<p>this is so exciting!!! Thank you for the interesting link! I ONLY feel this when I get my hair touched by other people (it’s more intense when I don’t know them very well, for some reason). Seriously man I am like purring inside whenever someone plays with my hair… and going to the salon is AWESOMEE.</p>
<p>I never even thought about the sensation as being anything special… I thought everyone had this experience at some point in their lives!! So it’s really not that common??? That’s really astounding to know. I thought it was common. My mother hates getting her hair touched so I knew that not everyone had the feeling when they got their hair touched but… I assumed people knew about the the sensation somehow or the other.</p>
<p>It’s super super strange to know that some people feel the sensation by watching or listening to certain things. I’m almost jealous. I’ve never had the sensation triggered by anything other than hair-touching. I like getting my ears picked (it’s an Asian thing) and back scratched as a kid and I actually like people touching me/caressing me lightly (but everyone does) but it won’t be the awesome tingly feeling. So yeah, hair-touching ftw.</p>
<p>I did not know that anyone else experienced this. I have mentioned it in passing a few times, and the people stopped me and asked for clarification. No one ever even had an idea of what I was talking about. </p>
<p>It is exciting to know that I’m not completely alone in this awesome ability to feel awesome. One of the easiest triggers for me is someone explaining a procedure (e.g., medical operations, interview process, etc.) that is going to personally affect me. I just want them to go on forever… I figured I was just weird.</p>
<p>When I hear a piece of music that contains sudden high pitches ( I am not sure that’s how you called it in English). Or when I see an extremely shocking, surprising, or colorful or full of noise scene in a movie. I get that sensation especially when the movie scene is moving very fast (like when a helicopter dives down suddenly).</p>
<p>I get it too when my friend traces letters on my back or when someone is lightly touching my hair. It is pleasant.
By the way, I think a similar feeling incited by music is called frission? Not sure.</p>
<p>I get this when I get my hair washed and cut at a salon. Not sure if other things work; I’ll have to think about it. I didn’t know there was a name for this.</p>
<p>This has happened to me before… Whenever something moves me very deeply, or strikes me as astoundingly beautiful, I get that tingling sensation in my head, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I get extremely lightheaded for an instant, and it’s like I have to surface from deep water. And then I’m fine. It’s the strangest thing.</p>
<p>I think I do this. I never knew it was weird or that others can’t do it. I just feel so relaxed when I do. I usually do it to myself by just closing my eyes and emptying my mind.</p>
<p>This always happens to me when I listen to music that makes me really sad, and it freaks me out to be honest.</p>
<p>Actually, I was just watching a video of “Michelle’s Smiling” or whatever you’d like to call the song (Full House, John Stamos & Mary-Kate/Ashley Olsen) and it happened almost immediately.</p>