Welcome back to Savi Psychologist. I'm Dr. Jade Wu. Every week I'll help you meet

life's challenges with evidence-based research, a sympathetic ear, and zero judgment.

What do the sounds of whispering, crinkling paper, and tapping fingernails have in common.

What about the sight of soft paint brushes on skin,

soap being gently cut to pieces,

and hand movements like turning the pages of a book.

Well, if you are someone who experiences autonomous sensory meridian response,

or ASMR for short, you may recognize these seemingly ordinary sounds and

sites as triggers for the ASMR experience. No idea what I'm talking about. Don't worry, you're actually in the majority.

Most people, myself included, are not affected by these triggers.

But what happens to those who are? It's been described as a

pleasantly warm and tingling sensation that starts on the scalp and moves down the neck and spine.

ASMR burst onto the internet scene in 2007, according to Wikipedia,

when a woman with a username, okay whatever, described her experience

of ASMR sensations in an online health discussion forum.

At the time, there was no name for this weird phenomenon but by 2010 someone named

Jennifer Allen had named the experience and from there ASMR became an internet sensation.

Today there are hundreds of ASMR Yitubers who collectively post over 200 videos of ASMR triggers per day,

as reported by a New York Times article in 2019.

Some ASMR Youtubers have become bona fide celebrities with ballooning bank accounts, millions of fans,

and enough fame to be stopped on the street for selfies.

However, there's been some controversy.

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