Smelling Sweat Can Relieve Your Social Anxiety
Chattanooga, Tennessee—(Pulse)
Do you get nervous when you meet strangers? Try smelling them.
Scientists from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden have found that sweat odors can help lower social anxiety. Fear of social situations can include hot flushes, shaking, or panic attacks.
These issues fell by 40% when patients were exposed to smelly armpit samples and mindfulness therapy. Those who only underwent mindfulness therapy saw just a 17% reduction in anxiety scores.
“The emotional state of the person producing the sweat didn’t differ in treatment outcomes,” study author Elisa Vigna said. “Sweat produced while someone was happy had the same effect as someone who had been scared.”
The study involved 48 participants, all women.
The impact of human sweat and how it transmits information to other people requires further research.
