'It's like Taking a Sleeping Pill': Student Experience of Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) to Promote Health and Mental Wellbeing.

ABSTRACT: Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is purposely elicited by some individuals to promote health and mental wellbeing. The aim of the current study was to explore how ASMR is used and its perceived benefits in a student population. We employed semi-structured qualitative interviews, with eight female students who self-reported as ASMR-sensitive users. Inductive thematic analysis, underpinned by a phenomenological framework, was applied to the data. Two themes, each with three subthemes, were identified; these highlighted the journey from first discovering ASMR to present experience and the use of ASMR to promote health and mental wellbeing both directly and indirectly. For some, ASMR was used daily, whilst for others it was used in a relapsing-remitting fashion: usage increased when

SUBMITTER: Woods N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9915972 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature