Recently, not only my hearing has become sharper, but also my sense of smell. More broadly, I became curious about certain relationships that I had heard about many times, and now I feel them more intensely.
I became interested in the issue of human scents after a brilliant lecture on French history, when I was studying at a university ten years ago. This lecture talked about how much the smells emitted by people influenced French culture, construction and government. It was these smells – unpleasant, which is important – that made the perfume production industry flourish in France.
As my sense of smell became more acute, I noticed that being around certain people was difficult for me. I prefer to cover shorter distances on foot. I often get off public transport when I smell an off-putting smell. Interestingly, I have the impression that not everyone is as sensitive as me.
However, what caught my attention the most and made me write this article now is the fact that there are people whose smell did not bother me before, but now it is uncomfortable for me. There are also reverse cases – and there are more of them – people whose scent initially slightly repulsed me, now smell neutral or even pleasant to me.
Where does this come from?
I would like to point out that I will not go into further detail on hygiene issues, because the odors resulting from this aspect are quite obvious. However, what makes the scents of well-groomed people not comfortable for us?
Well, it turns out that we smell the emotions that we have inside us. Animals can sense this very well, which influences their interest, friendly attitude and aggression.
When stress or nervousness increases, the hypothalamus in the brain becomes particularly active. Signals from it are sent to the sympathetic nervous system and the adrenal cortex. This event causes the secretion of cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline, i.e. hormones that accelerate metabolism, cause a surge of energy, we feel an increase in temperature, our heart beats faster and our breathing quickens. This also results in the secretion of an increased amount of sweat, which, combined with bacteria, produces an odor. The smell of stress.
The smell of sweat secreted under the influence of stress and nerves is different from the smell associated with physical activity. We often feel happy when practicing sports, which is associated with the release of endorphins, which are also known as a natural form of painkiller. So sweat caused by physical activity, caused by things that give us pleasure, can even be pleasant for the nose.
The eccrine glands are active in the skin during sweating. Nervousness is additionally accompanied by active apocrine glands. The latter produce sweat that contains, in addition to water, also fats and protein. Sweat itself is odorless, but bacteria attacking it change this property.
As it turns out, the smell of someone’s sweat evokes similar emotions to those that caused the person to sweat. If someone sweats because of fear, we too may act as if we were scared. If someone we smell is highly stressed, we may feel stressed too.
Diet and diseases also influence the smell of sweat. People who abuse alcohol, eat fatty foods, and smoke – smell unpleasant.
Contrary to what many people think, people who sweat intensely do not have to smell unpleasant. People whose sweat is invisible can emit more intense odors.
With my sense of smell becoming so acute, I suddenly appreciated the value of wearing perfume. I have the impression that even perfumes, the smell of which I may not fully consider as pleasant, are nicer than taking away someone’s stress, nervousness, alcohol problems, or lack of proper hygiene.
The use of masks, especially known for the obligation to wear them during a pandemic, has practical applications when we want to protect ourselves from absorbing the smells of other people, e.g. on public transport.
When the smells emitted by people we come into contact with change, some kind of confusion may occur. We are able to notice the relationship between a person’s behavior and the odors he emits. My own observations show that anxiety, stress, nervousness and negativity can very strongly influence someone’s smell and make us involuntarily move away from that person. We don’t want to take over these emotions.
One of the sentences that stuck in my mind during the lecture, which I mentioned at the beginning, was that the worst thing is when we cannot stand the smell of the person with whom we are married, in a civil partnership, with whom we share a bed. In the past, marriages were concluded mainly through arrangements, and it sometimes happened that one had to father offspring with someone who, in someone’s opinion, emitted a stench. Sometimes mental blocks and lack of pleasure make it difficult to have children. Many children were born out of wedlock – it’s easier to get pregnant with someone we like.
To sum up, it turns out that what we feel is very important in our perception. Strongly negative, nervous, choleric, stressed and fearful people may emit repulsive odors. In particular, if we are people with opposite characteristics and opposite attitudes to life, this contrast may be especially noticeable.