Things That Are More Therapeutic Than Therapy V: ASMR

Reading back my previous post on ASMR, it’s funny to see myself talk about it from a time when I had only relatively recently discovered the genre/culture/cult, and was still trying to intellectualise the whole thing and figure it out. Eighteen months later and it’s become a mainstay both in my bedtime routine and as an anxiolytic, and I have made squarely no progress whatsoever in deciding whether or not it’s weird.

Since writing that post I have found a couple of people who also listen to ASMR, and both of them spring to mind as both people I respect hugely and also people I would never suspect of being fans of strangers whispering in their ears. The shame they seem to hold over it is also kinda hilarious to me, and seems to far outweigh the shame that most people might hold over watching pornography, a quirk of being an ASMR fan that I’ve yet to really unpack.

Therapy is often difficult, painful, and you leave the experience with a head brimming with thoughts. ASMR is wholly passive, comforting, and helps clear your mind so you can drift off to sleep. If I had to choose between the day, it’s an absolute no brainer.