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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask if you’re one of the 1 in 1499 people that can do this?

160 replies

SoniaFouler · 26/10/2021 00:48

It’s called Voluntarily Generated Piloerection (VGP)—the ability to consciously give one’s self goosebumps. I’ve never met anybody else in real life that can do this so thought surely there must be at least one other person on here who can! If you can, how do you trigger yours? Mine is a form of what I can only describe as electric energy at the back of my head which I force down the entire length of my spine, I do it about two or three times rapidly one after the other and the skin on my arms, legs and chest immediately flare up with really strong visible goosebumps Confused - almost like a plucked chicken Blush The example given in the article says the guy moves his head from side to side to trigger it but i do it completely still, just concentrating on making my muscles send the sensation down my back.

Please join me, fellow freaks of nature:

A mammal’s hair follicle clings to the skin via a tiny muscle. When this muscle contracts, the hair will stand, the skin around it will undergo bump-shaped distortion, and voila—goosebumps.

For the 1499 people in this statistical metaphor, goosebumps are completely involuntary. The tiny muscle, called the arrector pili, is made of smooth muscle fibers. And like other smooth muscles of the body—those that handle digestion, blood flow, respiration, and so on—they are unconsciously regulated. The nerves attached to them lie in the autonomic nervous system, the part of the nervous system dedicated to managing bodily functions you aren’t supposed to control consciously, like heart rate or pupil dilation.

www.mentalfloss.com/article/622399/people-can-control-their-goosebumps

OP posts:
SoniaFouler · 26/10/2021 14:33

@GoIntoTheLight

Are you sure it's one in 1499? Because the majority of this thread claim to be able to do it! Unless there are 15,000 people who read the thread, can't do it and didn't reply.

(I can't do it)

That might be a lot of people opening the thread and thinking WTF and backing out slowly 😶
OP posts:
TheWitchersWife · 26/10/2021 14:37

I came on to say I definitely cannot do it. I didn't know it was possible and no one has ever told me they can do it.
But maybe they think it's normal so don't feel the need to tell people 🤷🏻‍♀️

ApocalypseNowt · 26/10/2021 14:41

I can't do it but I can make my eyes 'vibrate' 👀

MrsColon · 26/10/2021 14:48

I can do this, I didn't think it was odd though! I do the same as you, start at the back of the neck.

I also thought hyperphantasia was normal and standard until a year ago.

I bet there's loads of weird stuff that people can do but they never mention because they assume everyone can do it Confused

dworky · 26/10/2021 14:55

Yep, me also.
Maybe it's not uncommon.

MrsToothyBitch · 26/10/2021 14:58

No but my gag reflex is pretty fierce. I watched someone eat rather inelegantly (to be kind) and started to gag. The memory of it makes me gag. Thinking about smells that even when faint make me gag? Yep... that makes me gag. Proper heaving. A couple of times I've actually been slightly sick with it.

TitoMojito · 26/10/2021 15:00

I definitely can NOT do it and reading everyone describing the feeling is making my skin crawl 😂 I'm going to get goosebumps because of you! Grin

BigYellowHat · 26/10/2021 15:01

So do you have to be cold/naked? Or can you just make the goosebumps come one.

Weird sentence…

Sakura7 · 26/10/2021 15:12

Can't do the goosebump thing but I can remember smells and colours accurately - I thought that was normal?

Notjustanymum · 26/10/2021 15:18

I can do this, and in the same way OP describes. I think it’s a residual reflex action from ancient times, and it relaxes my neck and back.

Youcunnyfunt · 26/10/2021 15:27

I feel left out. I definitely can't do this! Grin

tnetenba · 26/10/2021 15:31

I can't do this but all you people that can should read The Power, I reckon your not far off having a skein and then women will rule the earth! Grin

HereWeGoAgains · 26/10/2021 15:37

Isn’t remembering smells normal? Maybe not.

3scape · 26/10/2021 15:38

I can give my self goosebumps but only in a specific context where I can conciously drag out the sensation of orgasm by manipulating my pelvic floor. I have read the power. I never thought of it like that!

takingmytimeonmyride · 26/10/2021 15:41

I can't do it, I can't even imagine how you do it! I've been sitting here willing myself to get goosebumps and it hasn't worked. Grin

ElvisPresleyHadABaby · 26/10/2021 16:00

I can if I tense and shake my neck from side to side very slightly.

ShirleyPhallus · 26/10/2021 16:04

I can’t do it!

But I can remember smells

PegasusReturns · 26/10/2021 16:06

I can’t consciously give my self goosebumps but I can make myself orgasm without touch. So I think I win Grin

Squirrel26 · 26/10/2021 16:23

I had never heard of this or considered it as a thing to do but I just had a go and I can do it! - By sort of tensing the back of my neck and spine.

#selfdevelopment Wink

Pigeonpocket · 26/10/2021 16:25

I can give myself the feeling of goosebumps but not the actual bumps. But I never get the actual bumps when other things trigger goosebump feelings either (like certain songs etc.), I only get bumps if I'm physically cold.

trumpisagit · 26/10/2021 16:26

I can't do it, but reading this gave me goosebumps, so that was weird!

Pigeonpocket · 26/10/2021 16:27

I can remember smells and colours accurately - I thought that was normal?

I think it's normal. Smell is a really strong sense for a lot of people and smells can trigger memories and feelings.
Some people are oblivious to colour matching because they just don't care enough about the difference between 5 different shades of blue, some people are colourblind, but I think most other people can colour match pretty accurately.

DoNotGetADog · 26/10/2021 16:31

Yes I can do it. I can just sort of conjure the feeling in the back of my neck and then as you said sort of push it down my spine just by thinking about it. I do have very strong ASMR reactions and it must be linked to that as it’s a very similar feeling.

CoffeeWithMyOxygen · 26/10/2021 16:35

I can do it too, and it’s exactly like you describe. I get intense ASMR as well, I wonder if it’s linked?

CoffeeWithMyOxygen · 26/10/2021 16:36

@PegasusReturns

I can’t consciously give my self goosebumps but I can make myself orgasm without touch. So I think I win Grin
Ok this is a WAY better skill Grin
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