Exposure to body odor could potentially help individuals with social anxiety, according to a study presented at the 31st European Congress of Psychiatry. The study found that combining chemo-signals with mindfulness therapy produced better results in treating social anxiety than mindfulness therapy alone. Sweat samples donated by volunteers who watched funny or fearful movies were used in the study. The team found that individuals who received mindfulness therapy and were exposed to human body odors showed about a 39% reduction in anxiety scores, compared to the control group that only received mindfulness therapy. While there was no observable difference between the different groups exposed to sweat odors, the team plans to conduct further research, including sweat from people watching neutral documentary clips. The study’s findings are interesting but will need to be robustly replicated by independent researchers.
Exposure to other people’s sweat could potentially help those who suffer from social anxiety, according to preliminary research presented at the European Congress of Psychiatry. The study found that combining chemo-signals (chemical signals produced by the body in sweat) with mindfulness therapy could produce better results in treating social anxiety than mindfulness therapy alone. The study used mindfulness therapy with a group of 48 women with social anxiety, aged between 15 and 35. Participants were divided into three groups, each exposed to a different odor during their treatment sessions. One group was exposed to the “fearful sweat,” donated by volunteers who watched horror movies, and the other was exposed to the “happy sweat,” donated by volunteers who watched clips tailored toward happiness. The third group was exposed to clean air as a control.
Social anxiety can make it difficult for individuals to participate in everyday situations due to the worry and stress that they feel about contact with others. The fear and anxiety can become overwhelming for some people. Various treatments are currently available, including talking therapies and antidepressant medication. The study found that exposure to body odor augmented the positive impact of mindfulness therapy in treating social anxiety, and combining the chemo-signals with mindfulness therapy produced better results than mindfulness therapy alone.
The study’s lead, Elisa Vigna of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, explained that our state of mind causes us to produce chemo-signals in sweat, which communicate our emotional state and produce corresponding responses in the receivers. While it may be too early to start hiding deodorant from friends and family, the study’s results provide hope for a new, unconventional tool in the treatment of social anxiety.
Exposure to other people’s sweat odors during mindfulness therapy may help individuals suffering from social anxiety, according to a study presented at the 31st European Congress of Psychiatry. The study found that individuals who received mindfulness therapy and were exposed to human body odors showed about a 39% reduction in anxiety scores, compared to the control group that only received mindfulness therapy, which saw a 17% reduction in anxiety scores after one treatment session. The study used sweat samples donated by volunteers who watched funny or fearful movies. The team plans to conduct further research, including sweat from people watching neutral documentary clips. The team hopes to isolate the compound responsible for the observed effects. However, there is no observable difference between the different groups exposed to sweat odors, so the emotional state of the person sweating does not seem to have an impact. The study’s findings are interesting but will need to be robustly replicated by independent researchers, said Dr Julian Beezhold, Secretary General of the European Psychiatric Association.
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