Rhys Baker is a first year journalism student at the University of Sussex, as well as a freelance writer and co-founder of the Hip-Hop brand theSTASHBOX.

He is also one of the millions of individuals in the world who struggles with major depressive disorder.

Rhys has experienced his depression since adolescence. He has tried several types of traditional and non-traditional therapies – but he was unable to achieve appropriate relief of his sadness.

Then he stumbled across ASMR by participating in a research study a few months ago. He has written an article about how he has felt more relief for his depression via ASMR than from other methods.

His story is not scientific evidence of the therapeutic value of ASMR.  His story is an anecdote, one expressed often on the internet, of how he feels ASMR helps him.  A thousand anecdotes does not create a fact, but a thousand anecdotes should catch the attention of researchers.

I share his story because it is one of many that should help to motivate researchers to pursue scientific investigations into the potential value of ASMR for health disorders.

I interviewed Rhys and he shared the history of his depression, how he learned about ASMR, what he would say to a room full of researchers, and more.

Below are my questions in bold, his replies in italics, and a link to the story he wrote about his depression and his discovery of ASMR.

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