To fall asleep quickly, they found a foolproof method: ASMR

 

SLEEP - Have they found the sandman? To fall asleep at night, they discovered a foolproof method without any side effects. All they have to do is lie down, take a look on Youtube, launch one or two videos and they're done. The particularity of these? They give them what is called ASMR.

"This allows me to reduce my insomnia at least by two", tells us, for example, Clara, 24, who estimates that she only needs about fifteen minutes to fall asleep in front of such videos. And she is far from alone in this case.

82% of consumers of ASMR videos use them to get to sleep, according to a study published in 2015 by two psychologists in the journal PeerJ. A little research in Youtube, in French as in English, also makes it possible to notice the incredible number of views obtained by these videos entirely devoted to lulling and relaxing users.

Like a little explosion in my head

The ASMR, for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, translatable as "Automatic Response of Sensory Meridians", characterizes a phenomenon that only a part of the population seems to be able to feel. Behind its very scientific name, no rigorous proof of its existence, neurological or psychological has yet been provided. Difficult, therefore, to define this feeling of pleasure that some compare to a "brain orgasm".

Some say tingling in the head that can extend to the spine, others an intense shiver. Sometimes we speak of a state of trance, of a pleasure that seems to transcend our usual sensations. "It's like bubbles in the head [...] It's like a small explosion, and then small shards and small stars which descend along the back", explained in 2012 on ViceGentleWhispering, one of the Best known Youtube "ASMR artists" with over 1.2 million subscribers.

To achieve this nirvana, YouTubers use all possible and imaginable auditory means: whispers, murmurs in the hollow of the ear thanks to binoral microphones, tapping, crackling, fake haircuts or manicures, pages that turn ...

"I realized it was a great sleeping pill"

And so for some, these videos cause such well-being that they lead them straight into the arms of Morpheus.

This is the case with Max, 24, who had already told us about his passion for ASMR a few years earlier. At that time, he spoke of feeling "a very pleasant sensation in the head. It hypnotizes me. I stay still, just to concentrate on the sensation it gives me. It relaxes me, helps me fall asleep. ". Since then, he has sort of systematized the process and immersed himself in his favorite videos once under the duvet at night.

“At first I watched ASMR videos to relax and for the pleasant feeling it gave me, not to sleep. But it was while watching the evening in bed with my smartphone that I realized that it was a super sleeping pill, ”he tells HuffPost.

Clara is the same age and her earliest memories of feeling ASMR date back to when she was very young. "I would invite girlfriends over to sleep and we would tell each other whispering stories before we fell asleep. And all of my memories of ASMR, before I even know what it was, is tied to a person's voice. For example, a relaxing teacher's voice, or people whispering in the library ... After that, it could be associated with a gesture that '' 'hypnotized' me a bit, "she recalls.

It was only a few years earlier that she discovered ASMR, when she came across an article online. She then immediately understands what it is. Little by little, she discovers Youtube channels that she likes and matches her. His favorite sounds? Very low whispers and tapping, as well as repetitive sounds.

At first, she didn't think these videos were going to be a super effective way to fall asleep. "I was just enjoying being able to feel this feeling which is so pleasant," she emphasizes.

For example, I wouldn't have bothered to spend an hour listening to ASMR without falling asleep, it's so pleasant. "Then it turns out that it relaxes to the point of falling asleep, so it's even better. Now I know that, so I can use it as a way to fall asleep, but anyway, when I 'Listening, I think first of taking a moment for myself, to please myself, "continues the young woman.

On average, except when she is really nervous or stressed, it only takes an average of 15 minutes to fall asleep.

Change in brain activity

Clémence Peix Lavallée, an expert in stress management and creator of the Bien Relax site, is not surprised by these testimonials. Indeed, many of his patients use these ASMR videos to fall asleep too. "This is a phenomenon of addiction linked to enjoyment," she said, contacted by The HuffPost. "Watching these videos produces hypnosis, physical and sensory arousal, from hyper-focusing through the auditory canal," she continues.

From the testimonials she receives from her patients, this sleep specialist affirms that something is indeed happening in the brain, but also at the hormonal level. According to her, ASMR helps reduce stress by lowering cortisol levels, relaxation by increasing serotonin and addiction by producing dopamine.

“The whole point for the brain of these videos is the binaural sound,” she explains. This type of sound, also called "in 3D", gives the impression of being perceived in the brain. Sound enters through one ear but not the other, and the brain must then calculate the frequency difference between the two on its own. "Binaural sounds modify brain activity. They promote a particular frequency, which can be a gateway to sleep", continues the specialist.

"If I didn't listen to it, I would still have difficulty falling asleep"

Whatever the scientific mechanism of these videos on the bodies of those who watch them, the effects are there, and they are beneficial. Clara, who has had trouble sleeping since she was little, admits she would be "unsettled" if she "couldn't watch any more". "It's a very immediate way to relax, I don't have to put any effort into it. I probably got more 'addicted' over time. But in fact, what if I didn't? I was not listening, it is because I would always have difficulty falling asleep, as in the past. Basically, I have never found a substitute as effective and above all harmless (no side effect) ", says- she does.

Max, who doesn't go so far as to say he's addicted either, manages to fall asleep without watching ASMR videos. Besides, if he cannot sleep at home for one reason or another, he does without. But he knows that "in case of a little insomnia, the ASMR [l] 'helps a lot". What happens to him occasionally. "It clearly allows me to fall asleep more easily. In general, once the laptop is on the bedside table, I would say I fall asleep within 5-10 minutes," he says.

For Clémence Peix Lavallée, all the means to relax are good to take, especially when they are as harmless as this one. "Any technique that soothes and makes you feel good should be used. In addition, this is a natural phenomenon of the body, experienced by normal people who have normal lives," she says. So why deny it?