What, like, trouble falling asleep? Did I mean insomnia?
No, I mean how people lost their sense of smell after getting COVID. The technical term for losing your sense of smell is "ansomnia" (you learn something new every day, right?).
I personally believe that long-term ansomnia is going to be the next mental health crisis. Without access to their sense of smell, people have diminished joy in food. They can't trigger odor-based memories. The resulting emotional state is to feel out-of-sorts, dull, tired, and bummed out.
The good news is that if you (or your ansomniac friend) can smell anything -- that is, the sense of smell is there, but it's "off" -- a person's nose can be re-trained by gradual and focused exposure to familiar scents.
So, for example, smell an apple and think, "This is an apple. This is what an apple smells like."
It sounds silly, but that's how the professionals say to do it. Smell a rose. Think, "this is what a rose smells like."
You're basically re-training your scent associations. It's tedious and can feel stupid, but it's better than a life without scent!
One of our Outlaw customers reported that after a bout of COVID earlier last year, the only thing he was able to smell was Lust in the Dust Natural Soap.
It was honestly one of the proudest moments in my career... We were able to provide a window through the fog of ansomnia and deliver a consistent and life-affirming scent to this excellent person.
Have you had ansomnia? Do you know of anyone who has?
