#Anosmia

[lily-of-the-valley-2763]

This is even funnier to me because I'm a questioning asexual who can't smell, and people will literally ask me to smell something even after I've told them I can't smell.

Like, just because your lavender or whatever scent is "really strong" doesn't mean my nose is going to start magically working 🫠

[draconym]

air hug in relation to the anosmia. I was born with no sense of smell, but sometimes I can tell something is a strong "scent" Hand sanitizer/the testoerone gel - Strong Bitter Burnt food - Rough Hospitals, specifically on days requiring fasting and the sleep gas - Almost too sterile. The human body is weird. Other than the loss of smell I hope you're able to enjoy food and other stuff.

My sense of smell is coming back online after about six months of being hot garbage (literally, that was one of the only things I could reliably smell). As someone who was extremely smell-oriented previously, it's been weird. I've heard of some folks with anosmia acquiring a sense of smell for the first time after a severe covid infection. So that's wild. Anosmia is a disability for sure.

[radiosquad]

I don't want to post about this too much but I HATE the term "noseblind". Like, yes, you've gotten used to a smell and don't notice it as much anymore. But you haven't lost your sense of smell entirely.

Here's an article explaining what I'm talking about in more depth.

[incognitopolls]

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[godlessondheimite]

when i was a kid i thought scented markers were a scam and thought the other kids were lying when they said skittles had different flavors. eventually i figured out i didn’t have a sense of smell but whenever i told my parents this, they said that was impossible and so i didn’t know what the deal was until i got over and realized my parents were wrong.

[kariachi]

Sometimes I watch shows like the Great British Bake-Off, other cooking competitions, and I see the judges going to people and going "you've overseasoned, it's awful now" and I think "you would not survive my cooking". Because loves I am anosmiac, I season like it is the only chance I'll get to taste something, and in many cases it is. The word 'aromatic' is my mortal enemy. I always season to taste, so that I can taste, and anyone who gets caught in my path will simply have to adjust or make their own damn food.

I can't speak for other anosmiac cooks, but I know I probably wouldn't last on one of these shows.

[vee-lociraptor]

in the taste lab straight up “skewing it.” and by “it,” haha, well. let’s justr say. the data

[errrr-vent-blog]

we are so ableist about smell. "oh youcant smell ? yea youre probably just sick or something it'll pass" "youmean youcant smell that awful smell ?? YOURE SO LUCKY I WISH ICOULDNT" "its not a disability not to be able to smell !!" "youre so lucky to not be able to smell" "wellll even if it is a disability youre still lucky" and so on cause icould go on forever. why say that to an anosmic ? it isnt fair, im disabled too, and im NOT lucky for not being able to live a normal life like a non disabled person.

[blue-sleeps-in]

it's genuinely hilarious how fake smells sound. when was the last time you heard someone notice or describe a smell. I don't remember the last time anyone even mentioned the word "smell" and I don't think anyone ever described a smell beyond "good" or "bad" to me. no one EVER talks about it. you guys have to be making this stuff up

[runawaymarbles]

The most stressful part of anosmia isn't the BO. it's not being able to tell the spray bottle full of water apart from the spray bottle full of vinegar

[saeboria]

Today, February 27th, is Anosmia Awareness Day!

Anosmia is the lack of smell. Anosmia is not something I directly deal with much anymore as *most* of my smell has returned, but I now instead deal with parosmia, which is altered smell/taste. I've been dealing with anosmia / parosmia since I had covid in 2020, over 4 years ago.

I feel like this is something that is not brought up as much anymore like in the earlier days of the pandemic, and it could be that covid does not seem to be causing smell / taste issues as much as it once was, but it definitely still is!

[radiosquad]

btw it's anosmia awareness day! be aware of: anosmic people

[PT: btw it's anosmia awareness day! be aware of: anosmic people /End PT]

I made some userboxes for the occasion

[ID: Four red userboxes with the smell disorder flag on them and white text with black outlines. The first says, "This user is anosmic. They can't smell." The second says, "This user can't smell." The third says, "This user is anosmic." The fourth says, "This user has anosmia." /End ID]

And some for other smell disorders too, under the cut!

Hyposmia

[ID: Three red userboxes with the smell disorder flag on them and white text with black outlines. The first says, "This user has a reduced sense of smell." The second says, "This user is hyposmic." The third says, "This user has hyposmia." /End ID]

Dysosmia

[ID: Three red userboxes with the smell disorder flag on them and white text with black outlines. The first says, "This user has a distorted sense of smell." The second says, "This user is dysosmic." The third says, "This user has dysosmia." /End ID]

Parosmia

[ID: Three red userboxes with the smell disorder flag on them and white text with black outlines. The first says, "This user smells normally pleasant odors as unpleasant ones instead." The second says, "This user is parosmic." The third says, "This user has parosmia." /End ID]

Phantosmia

[ID: Four red userboxes with the smell disorder flag on them and white text with black outlines. The first says, "This user smells things that aren't there." The second says, "This user has olfactory hallucinations." The third says, "This user is phantosmic." The fourth says, "This user has phantosmia." /End ID]

Hyperosmia

[ID: Three red userboxes with the smell disorder flag on them and white text with black outlines. The first says, "This user is sensitive to smell." The second says, "This user is hyperosmic." The third says, "This user has hyperosmia." /End ID]

[caw-oticdork]

HUH

So I've just listened to @lingthusiasm's episode on words about smells, and apparently european languages aren't nearly as evocative about their smell words as a lot of other languages?

Which is quite strange and fascinating to me, as I never had any ability to smell, and have for most of my life conceptualised smell as like a metaphor or literary device for the atmosphere of a space or thing, almost synonymous with "vibes" and "aura".

Now I very much wonder what my conceptualision of "smell" would be like had my mother tongue been one with more evocative smell words....

Maybe I'd have figured out that I don't have a sense of smell before the age of 14?

Did the fact that most smell words in German and English follow the "smell of [thing]" or "[thing] smell" scheme help or hinder my understanding my outside understanding of the concept of smell?

Also now I've got to get the book they mentioned in the episode, Shadowscent, which features a smell-word-based conlang!

[aspiringhorrorauthor]

Hey guys how’s it going today I experienced fucking ableism for my anosmia???

[frankchurchillsaysrelax]

i’m anosmic, of course i’m going to politely ask you not to shove things in my face and ask me to smell it…the first time. i’m anosmic, of course i’m going to have an anxiety spiral during the summer wondering if i stink after half an hour in the sun. i’m anosmic, of course i’m going to eat something spoiled once in my life and then obsessively ask people to check everything i eat in the future like some sort of medieval king afraid of being poisoned.