# Am I the only one who does this? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 29, 2008, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-does-this/470142 "2008-10-29T20:57:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-does-this/470142/1 "2008-10-29T20:57:56Z")
The first time I got floaties in my eyes I was concerned something bad was happening and when I found out everyone gets them it made me feel so much better. I have never told anyone this before and I don’t know if other people can do this but I can give myself the chills. Sometimes when I am talking with someone I don’t know well, or if someone touches my head in a certain way, or if I am in a slightly cold room I get a cool sensation at the base of my skull that spreads out over my back. Once I get the first one involuntarily I can keep having that sensation every ten seconds or so for about five minutes. Each time I do it gets a little fainter until it stops altogether. It is one of the most pleasant sensations I have ever felt. Do other people get this too? What do you call it? What do you do that you are unsure if other people do? ---
**Author:** ![New\_Beginning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@New\_Beginning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Beginning)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-does-this/470142/2 "2008-10-30T14:42:47Z")
Regarding the “chill”. Yes I have noticed that I can bring it on at will. It was only recently that I came across a thread in another forum where someone asked if anyone else has it and a flood of people chimed in with "me too"s. I call it a brain orgasm since you “build up energy” and then release it in a controlled way. Feels great, and from the people I have spoken with, it sounds like if you practice at it, you can learn to control it more and more and make it stronger and stronger. I have not done so out of fear that it is doing some damage to my health but I have no reason to think that, it’s just a fear. I asked a doctor about it once and was laughed out of his office. ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-does-this/470142/3 "2008-10-30T15:24:21Z")
I get it too, though I can’t summon it at will. I wish I could, and I have tried to. I have always assumed that everyone gets this feeling sometimes, even though I’ve never heard anyone actually mention it before this very thread. I also get a different feeling that I can’t describe very well at all, unfortunately. It is even better than the “chill”. When it happens, I envision a tunnel opening in my brain, but that has nothing to do with the feeling it brings. I simply can’t describe the feeling any better than to say it is pure calm. There isn’t a thought in my mind, just the feeling. Then it ends and I try and try to recapture it but I never can. I learned long ago that with 6 billion people on the planet, the chance that anything I do is unique is zero. If I do something, there are surely many millions of people who do the same thing. So, even though I can’t describe this feeling I get, I’m sure lots and lots of people get it, too. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-does-this/470142/4 "2008-10-30T15:31:31Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > I have never told anyone this before and I don’t know if other people can do this but I can give myself the chills. FWIW, I can do this as well. ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-does-this/470142/5 "2008-10-30T15:57:32Z")
Not sure about a “chill” senstion but I can get a tingle that trsvels down my spine in s similar way. I can repeat this at will mostly. It starts on both sides of my head and travels down my spine about halfway. Is this what you are describing? ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-does-this/470142/6 "2008-10-30T16:34:14Z")
I don’t think I get what the OP does at all, ever, but I can give myself goosebumps on command if I think about scraping a napkin between my teeth. No idea why that does it, but it does. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-does-this/470142/7 "2008-10-30T19:22:49Z")
Isn’t that serotonin being released into the brain? That’s what I’ve thought since I took “Drugs and Behavior”, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Rapier42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/90db22/32.png) [@Rapier42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rapier42)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-does-this/470142/8 "2008-10-30T21:14:44Z")
Another “me too”. It has to be quiet, I have to be relaxed, and it seems to be much more likely to happen if I’m one the phone, listening to somebody else typing or muttering to themselves. Once it kicks off, it tends to come in waves, each one less intense than the last, although I can sometimes retrigger it, if conditions are right. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-does-this/470142/9 "2008-10-30T21:17:25Z")
> [@neutron\_star](#): > > I don’t think I get what the OP does at all, ever, but I can give myself goosebumps on command if I think about scraping a napkin between my teeth. No idea why that does it, but it does. Now that you mention it, so can I. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Commodore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Commodore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Commodore)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-does-this/470142/10 "2016-05-14T12:49:47Z")
Hey great name Puddleglum. I am a great admirer of Puddleglum not to mention Tom Baker and how he plays the part in The Silver chair. Floaties in the eyes I have no idea what that is or the chills thing, but I know a mate who looks at the light so as to help him sneeze. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-does-this/470142/11 "2016-05-14T17:39:13Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > What do you do that you are unsure if other people do? After reading he SDMB this long, I am comforted that there is nothing I do that someone else doesn’t. 🙂 > [@Commodore](#): > > Floaties in the eyes I have no idea what that is You’ve never seen a floater in your eye? If you ever see just one of two, OK, but if you see many at once, seek help. It could be a detached retina. [http://www.psoriasisdietplan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/eye\_floaters.jpg](http://www.psoriasisdietplan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/eye_floaters.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-does-this/470142/12 "2016-05-14T17:46:33Z")
> [@Santo\_Rugger](#): > > Isn’t that serotonin being released into the brain? That’s what I’ve thought since I took “Drugs and Behavior”, anyway. This, I think it could be any number of chemical releases in the brain. I have experienced and yes it is pleaseant. I have never attempted to bring it on intentionally. ``` I would like to hear more about what it is that you are experiencing that brings on this feeling. I will often get it when I suddenly accept a new perspective on something I may be working on. Or I might be in a conversation and suddenly realize I have some attraction to whom I am speaking. It might just be a stimulating conversatin but I will suddenly feel " I really like that person". ``` ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-does-this/470142/13 "2016-05-14T17:47:07Z")
Sneezing when you look at a bright light is called the photic sneeze reflex: > **[Photic sneeze reflex](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photic_sneeze_reflex)** > > The photic sneeze reflex (also known as Autosomal Dominant Compelling Helio-Ophthalmic Outburst (ACHOO) syndrome or photoptarmosis, of the combining form from Ancient Greek φῶς, phōs, "light" and πταρμός, ptarmós, "sneeze", colloquially sun sneezing or photosneezia) is an inherited and congenital autosomal dominant reflex condition that causes sneezing in response to numerous stimuli, such as looking at bright lights or periocular (surrounding the eyeball) injection. The condition affects 18–3 Th... ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-does-this/470142/14 "2016-05-14T19:53:31Z")
I can deliberately give myself leg cramps. Damn useless superpower… ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-does-this/470142/15 "2016-05-14T20:54:47Z")
The search term you may be looking for is [ASMR](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASMR). There is also an entire community of youtube creators dedicated to making videos that trigger this type of sensation in people if you want to check it out. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-does-this/470142/16 "2016-05-14T21:59:33Z")
Just lie in bed and relax every part of your body. Some people start with their feet and work upward. Try to put your mind in the blankest state possible an dissociate yourself from your physical presence. With practice, it can become equivalent to an ongoing orgiastic peak, though that can get tiresome after a while. I picked that up from a HS girlfriend who was trying to teach me “astral projection”. I never “went anywhere”, but trying turned out to be quite enjoyable. ---
**Author:** ![Commodore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Commodore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Commodore)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-does-this/470142/17 "2016-05-14T23:42:05Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > After reading he SDMB this long, I am comforted that there is nothing I do that someone else doesn’t. 🙂 > You’ve never seen a floater in your eye? If you ever see just one of two, OK, but if you see many at once, seek help. It could be a detached retina. > > [http://www.psoriasisdietplan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/eye\_floaters.jpg](http://www.psoriasisdietplan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/eye_floaters.jpg) Thanks gigi now I know what is meant by such a turm.