Alleviation, Sensation, Motivation, Relaxation
Opinion by Violet Isom

ASMR stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. It is a tingling sensation that travels down the spine and is associated with happiness and relaxation in hearing, sight, and touch. You can get the tingles with actions like whispering, slight touch, rubbing fingers, crinkling paper, or receiving personal care or attention.

I see ASMR as a positive experience that provides healing and helps with stress, sleeping, and soreness.
ASMR is therapeutic. By watching or listening to it, brain chemicals like dopamine and oxytocin can be released which are linked with feelings of happiness or pleasure. Things like “enhanced slime,” whispering, soap cutting, crunching, and scratching noises are satisfying and can trigger a response of relaxation which gives a peaceful state of mind.

Along with noises, visuals can cause an ASMR response. ASMR can be a sleep aid or offer comfort to viewers/listeners. Watching things like playing with slime, cutting sand, and breaking chalk can provide this sensation of tranquility.
There is an extensive library of ASMR videos and podcasts on the internet that can cater to everyone’s preferences. These can be easily accessed using various platforms, such as YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music. (Fun Fact: ASMR is one of the most popular search terms on YouTube!)

It’s reasonable that ASMR can make people uncomfortable because of the odd way it can make them feel. This feeling could be considered irregular or new because it is technically not being triggered naturally. Although it can be strange at first, people tend to grow accustomed to it and eventually find it calming or comforting.

ASMR might not be for you, but it is an experience that everyone should give a try. Maybe the next time you feel stressed out, a satisfying video can help put you at ease. Who knows, it could be your new favorite thing.

ASMR: An attack on your senses
Opinion by Becca Trammell

I don’t get irritated easily at videos, but ASMR makes me feel unsettled and irritated. ASMR is supposed to be relaxing and soothing, and it’s meant to calm people down, but for me, it does the opposite.

Some ASMR videos are tolerable, but it isn’t about the tingling sensation that irritates and bothers me. It is the intensive staring and the long eye contact with the camera.

The up-close whispering and the loud obnoxious smacking, whenever someone is eating a massive amount of food, can gross a lot of people out, me included

I also really do not like the roleplay ASMR, because you are talking with a camera and just whispering about nothing, and it irks me to see people do this for a living or doing it at all. Some of the roleplaying ASMR would be a dentist, hair stylist or a doctor of some sort. Whenever I see an ASMR video like this I cringe from the intensive staring and mouth movements.

I have friends who I know love ASMR and that is okay with me. I won’t stop being someone’s friend whenever they like something that I don’t.

ASMR is not for everyone and all comes down to a preference.