Has ASMR helped you somehow? Share your experience at the Voices of ASMR project and it will automatically be included below.
Do you know of a study or resource which highlights how ASMR has helped someone? Send the link to asmruniversity@gmail.com and I’ll add it below. Thank you, Dr Richard.
- Note: Increased stress or decreased sleep can lead to many other health challenges. Both of these primary problems have been documented to be improved by ASMR. This means that many of the other reported health benefits of ASMR may be secondary outcomes to ASMR decreasing stress and/or increasing sleep. See these resources that explain how impaired sleep leads to many other mental and physical challenges:
- Meta-Analysis Research Study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38127505/
- New York Times Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/19/well/mind/sleep-mental-health-insomnia.html
*Biological changes* (ASMR and biological changes)
- Published Research
- 2018, Lochte et al: ASMR videos activate specific brain regions.
- 2018, Poerio et al: ASMR videos decrease heart rate and increase skin conductance (study 2).
- Other Research
- 2020, Trust Me I’m a Doctor (TV Show; Series 9, Episode 2): Experiment with a group of volunteers demonstrated lowered heart rates and increased skin arousal.
*Relaxation* (ASMR increases relaxation)
- Published Research
- 2018, Poerio et al: ASMR videos increase calmness (study 1 & 2)
- 2017, Janik McErlean et al: 86% of participants watched ASMR videos to relax.
- 2015, Barratt et al: 98% of participants watch ASMR videos to relax.
- Other Research
- Ongoing: Majority of participants report that ASMR helps them to feel more relaxed.
- Testimonials and Support
*Stress and Anxiety* (ASMR reduces stress)
- Published Research
- 2018, Poerio et al: ASMR videos decreased stress (study 1)
- 2017, Janik McErlean et al: 11% of all participants stated that they watch ASMR videos to reduce their anxiety.
- 2015, Barratt et al: 70% of participants watch ASMR videos “to deal with stress.”
- Other Research
- Ongoing: Majority of participants report that ASMR helps them to feel less stressed and about half of those diagnosed with anxiety or panic disorders reported that ASMR helps them with their condition.
- Testimonials and Support
*Sleeplessness and Insomnia* (ASMR helps sleep problems)
- Published Research
- 2017, Janik McErlean et al: 41% of the participants indicated that they watch ASMR videos to help them fall asleep.
- 2015, Barratt et al: 82% of participants watch ASMR videos to help them sleep.
- Other Research
- Ongoing: Majority of participants report that ASMR helps them to fall asleep and about half of those diagnosed with insomnia reported that ASMR helps them with their condition.
- Testimonials and Support
*Sadness and Depression* (ASMR helps mood issues)
- Published Research
- 2018, Poerio et al: ASMR videos decrease sadness (study 1)
- 2015, Barratt et al: 80% of participants report an effect on mood which is positive on average and those at high risk for depression report that ASMR improves their mood.
- Other Research
- Ongoing: About half of participants who often feel sad report ASMR helps them feel less sad and about one-third of those diagnosed with depression report ASMR is helpful to their condition.
- Testimonials and Support
*Focusing, Studying, Learning, Working, and ADD/ADHD* (ASMR helps focusing)
- Published Research
- TBD
- Other Research
- Panasonic Study: 7% of 2000 employed UK adults listen to ASMR content while working (March 2020 survey).
- Ongoing: About one-fifth of those with ADD or ADHD reported that ASMR helps them to focus.
- Testimonials and Support
- Potential mechanism
- Sleep deprivation worsens ADHD and cognitive functions: research study
- So ASMR may improve sleep, which then improves ADHD and other cognitive functions.
*Pain, Chronic pain* (ASMR helps pain)
- Published Research
- 2015, Barratt et al: 42% of participants with chronic pain believed that watching ASMR videos had an effect on their symptoms.
- Other Research
- TBD
- Related Articles, Testimonials, and Support
*Other conditions* (ASMR benefits for other conditions)
- Addiction recovery:Marijuana testimonial (Sam), Percocet/Heroin testimonials, Alcohol testimonials, Alcohol testimonial, Opioid/Alcohol testimonial, Oxycodone testimonial
- Autism: Voices of ASMR, Testimonial Article, Review Article
- Fibromyalgia: Article
- Mania: Article
- Microencephaly: Article
- Migraines: Article
- Misophonia: Suggested technique (pg 28)
- Narcissistic abuse: Testimonial
- Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities (PMLD): Project
- Sexual assault: Article
- Special needs children: Article
- Trypophobia: Article
*Other benefits*
- Classroom dismissal routines: Article
- Exploring gender identity: Article
- Relationship recovery: Article
- Promoting Social Awareness/Change: Article
- Relaxing children: Article
- Athletes & physical performance: Article, Article, Video
- Relaxing after a tough workout: Article
- Rejuvenating after giving a big performance: Article
- Tilting prevention: Post
- Relaxation prior to arousal: Product
- Relaxation before horse riding: Article
- Anxiety reduction to fireworks for dogs: Instagram post
*Support & Mentions*
- Health Insurance Agencies
- Health-Related Organizations
- TV Health Programs
- Unwind with iTV (mental health special)
- The Doctors (daytime talk show) [1], [2]
- Dr Drew (talk show) [@39m20s – listens to ASMR whispering to fall asleep]
- Health Professionals and Health Resources
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Addendum: ASMR & COVID-19 Pandemic
Health benefits of ASMR during pandemic
- Many published research studies have confirmed the detriments of the pandemic to mental health (scroll to bottom of this page for addendum of published studies). As a result, people may be turning to ASMR content during the pandemic for comfort, stress reduction, and/or help falling asleep.
- Reported increase in ASMR content consumption during the pandemic
- ASMR on Wisio, Cameo, & Fiverr. “…Since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, the personalized video platform Wisio told Motherboard it has experienced around a 2,100 percent increase in the amount of ASMR requests. The number of monthly bookings with instructions to include ASMR on Cameo doubled between March and December 2020, and freelance marketplace Fiverr also experienced a 673 percent increase in year-on-year searches for ASMR related services, the companies said.”
- ASMR on Twitch (May 2020 – May 2021) “…the growth of people watching ASMR on Twitch has been huge from 2020 to 2021…between May and June this year, hours of ASMR watched per day has increased by 38%…”
- ASMR on Twitch (Jan 2021 – Sep 2021) “ASMR is the only major category on Twitch that has shown consistent growth month-over-month in 2021, going from just over 4 million hours watched in January to more than 12 million hours watched last month”
- Reported benefits of ASMR during the pandemic on mental health (mostly personal accounts):
Affect of COVID-19/Pandemic on Mental Health (non-ASMR data)
- Social and mental health challenges during the pandemic (summary):
- quarantine, isolation, social distancing, job loss, financial strain, health concerns, more
- Reported detriments of the pandemic on mental health (published research):
ASMR University 