What's that smell?

October 2, 2005 11:21 AM

Is there a way to disassociate a memory with a smell? My house burned down in a forest fire when I was a child and now every time I smell smoke from a forest fire, I have an anxiety reaction.

My heart races and I am nervous and on edge. I don't think this calls for therapy, it's not ruining my life, I just wondered if there was a way to trick my mind into not getting worked up about this.

posted by slimslowslider to Health & Fitness (13 answers total)

Recreate the burning smell with perhaps the fireplace. Do it enough times and the scent will become less significant as it is no longer pared with the anxious situation. It will lose its importance due to the monotony of your repeated fireplace fires (or bonfires, or maybe use your bbq with wood.) Sort of like if you look at a word for awhile it starts to lose its meaning or look incorrectly spelled. This method may be uncomfortable at first due to the reaction you have trained in you, but it'll become less so and less so.
posted by TwelveTwo at 11:39 AM on October 2, 2005

Make love in front of the fireplace.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 11:57 AM on October 2, 2005

If you don't have a fireplace in your home, you might want to do some fall camping. A nice woodfire and hanging out with a few friends can create some good memories.
posted by divka at 12:01 PM on October 2, 2005

The previous posters have the right of it. Slow, gradual replacement of your associations about the smell with benign or positive events will probably lessen the fear response. You might want to look at some books that address modifying anxiety reactions from a behavioral or cognitive-behavioral perspective. Good luck.
posted by rebirtha at 12:23 PM on October 2, 2005

What you need is called "desensitization". It needs to be done gradually. I'm sure there's books on the subject.
posted by neuron at 12:25 PM on October 2, 2005

Response by poster: Thanks for the input so far. I have been around other fire sources-bonfires, campfires, etc.-and they don't have the same effect on me. Perhaps because I know that there is no danger associated with them, or they smell different. There are a lot of forest fires in Northern California this time of year, especially, which is why this came up now. It seems like desensitization is probably the key- I just don't know how to go about having a positive experience with a wild fire.
posted by slimslowslider at 1:00 PM on October 2, 2005

EFT
posted by dpcoffin at 1:18 PM on October 2, 2005

Do you have any artistic ability? Perhaps take up pyrography (wood burning) as a hobby. The smell of burning wood is definitely present, yet the craft involves no open flame.

The supplies are cheap and if you lack skill, talent or inspiration you could always use a pattern. I imagine that you could also make your own patterns with iron-on transfer paper. Likewise, you could likely find or scavenge for free wood in nature or even in your own home (cutting boards, old furniture, wooden kitchen tools).

You could buy old cutting boards from thrift shops (sterilize them in your dishwasher first) and decorate them for holiday gifts. Shockingly cheap new cutting boards can also be sourced online if the idea of used stuff makes you queasy.

As far as your anxiety is concerned, one would guess that the distraction of creating something might be enough to help you relax.
posted by cior at 1:32 PM on October 2, 2005

Maybe you could consider volunteering with your local fire department? Or maybe they offer some forest fire safety training? If you are in an area that has a lot of forest fires, they probably have some resources like that. Fairly often in classes like that they'll take you somewhere and teach you to deal with a small burn.

Also, in some areas environmental groups go out and do prarie burns as a part of prarie restoration. That could also give you a chance to be around a controlled "wild" fire.
posted by divka at 2:04 PM on October 2, 2005

If it makes you feel any better about it, smell and memory are closely linked, and olfactory memories are believed to be among the most powerful. Cf. the entire perfume industry.
posted by dhartung at 2:31 PM on October 2, 2005

Interesting. The smell of a recent forest fire that rained ash upon my city and shrouded it with smoke brought back fond memories of childhood camping trips. Realizing and maintaining the awareness that what was occurring was really a not very good thing took some effort. Flexing your reasoning muscles, to counter your emotional ones, may help you gain/maintain some perspective. I've found meditation to be a good exercise to keep me calm and rational under stressful circumstances.
posted by Pseudonumb at 7:01 PM on October 2, 2005

Some minor hypnosis therapy could be in order. Never had it myself, but that seems to be a very likely candidate for hypnosis.
posted by wilful at 11:33 PM on October 2, 2005

Forest fires (as you now know all too well) are dangerous. It's perfectly reasonable to be on edge around dangerous things. When you do volunteer with your local fire brigade, that heightened awareness could save your life, or somebody else's.
posted by flabdablet at 4:26 PM on October 3, 2005