I swear I posted this a while back, but I guess not.
MietoASMR reminded me of it with his recent post here:
It turns out my wife has this. She watches massage videos to fall asleep. I tried watching these and I got twitches. Every tappy, light sound made me shake my arms. I also have tinnitus so I wonder whether there is a relationship. I can't even get through a few seconds of these videos without feeling overloaded by the sounds of lip smacks, jangling bracelets, and high treble at the same volume as human voices. My discernment falls apart and I feel angry. I keep thinking: POP FILTERS! I spent years recording things and trying to get rid of these noises. It turns out I could've been banking them. I'll stick to post-rock, grind core, dub step, and other low-intimacy presentations. However I must thank you for posting this. I never would have known that some people like that tingly sensation. I've had people walk their fingers over my shoulders and it make me freak out like a hit to the funny bone.
I think it's fascinating. I always knew I liked certain things and the feeling I would get but never really knew there was a name or what triggered it. Touching my hair puts me in an soothing elated state but touching my hair while telling me "happy things" is like the best high there is. My first boyfriend would make me do it (the head rubbing, hair touching, saying happy things thing) to him when he was depressed or having a panic attack. I figured it was just a soothing coping mechanism. The first time he did it to me, I realized that it was more than that. But yeah. I never really thought about it or why it was or whatever. I never imagined that others had been like diving deep into it and that there are so many sounds and weird things that create the same feeling. I read part of the article sans videos at first. I immediately knew the sensation that was being discussed. I watched some of the videos to confirm it but I don't really enjoy watching g them. I guess since I associate the feeling with a deeply intimate moment, I don't really want it without the actual physical touch / soothing words and whispers. In fact, the one of the squishy sounds earlier, made me look over my shoulder in a most "this is weird no one is here with me right?" way.
Thanks for sharing this! I found out that I felt this sensation around 2011 when the community on Youtube became popular. It was so bizarre to discover I wasn't the only one who had it. Can any of you cause the sensation just by telling yourself to feel it? I've noticed lately that I can do that without even being triggered.