stop and smell the roses...literally

[daisy84279]

I know this might sound strange. But I'm beginning to find a cure for anxiety, and it happens to be the sense of smell. I've noticed that since I've had depression/anxiety, I don't use my sense of smell much, or I just don't pay attention to it. I sometimes sit outside on my break, and I sometimes take a deep breath and just take in the smell of outside. Whether its a summer day, rainy day, or a cool morning, it just takes me back to those worry-free days of childhood. I know the sense of smell is strongly linked to memory. Anyone find that a certain smell can calm you down?

[pawlowski187]

I think it can bring you back to good memories yes, and be therapeutic ... But I think for some it can also bring up some bad memories .... But I choose to reach for those positives first :)

[orangeribbons]

I know what you mean. I wonder why smells link us to childhood? Did we spend more time stopping and smelling things as children?

[dazza]

Howdy

Those who suffer depression and/or high anxiety tend to be locked inside their own world of sorrow & doom, quite alienated from everything around them. Their peripheral senses; see / hear / smell / touch are shadowed by the hell within which they exist.

Sometimes, maybe for just a brief moment, an external influence - almost like a helping hand, will reach in and touch them, reminding them of the normal life that is outside of their doom bubble.
Smell can do this.

The smells of nature in particular can remind us that we're still very much alive and that all that is around us is just the same as it ever was - which can be quite an emotional reality, actually.

The smell of freshly cut grass, flowers, herbs, etc. are pleasant reminders of who you really are, outside of the hell bubble that entraps you.

[vonnhelsing]

The sense of smell has been my biggest friend in my years of dealing with chronic anxiety. I do not leave my house without my little bottle of something called 'Siang Pure Oil' its a product from thailand and has natural herbs in it e.g menthol, cinnamon and camphor. everything i feel anxious i rub a bit of the oil on my temples and on my finger and inhale it. it really calms me down a lot. aroma therapy is wonderful. i'd recommend it to everyone.