Annie Lowrey

I always describe it as being like a car alarm, right? Like you can't stop thinking about it. It interrupts you somehow. It feels like being trapped inside your own body. And, you know, maybe pain has these qualities for other people. Sometimes I describe it as like a feeling of drowning. It creates in me a sense of fight or flight, but there's nothing to flee from and nothing to fight.

I always describe it as being like a car alarm, right? Like you can't stop thinking about it. It interrupts you somehow. It feels like being trapped inside your own body. And, you know, maybe pain has these qualities for other people. Sometimes I describe it as like a feeling of drowning. It creates in me a sense of fight or flight, but there's nothing to flee from and nothing to fight.

I guess you can scratch yourself and you're fighting your own body. It has this kind of hallucinatorially strange quality for me. Sometimes you're feeling things that aren't there. And sometimes I even get that sense. I will feel things on my skin when I'm looking at the skin and there's nothing there. And and It can be spooky in a way. And notably, there's lots of different ways to feel itchy.

I guess you can scratch yourself and you're fighting your own body. It has this kind of hallucinatorially strange quality for me. Sometimes you're feeling things that aren't there. And sometimes I even get that sense. I will feel things on my skin when I'm looking at the skin and there's nothing there. And and It can be spooky in a way. And notably, there's lots of different ways to feel itchy.

I guess you can scratch yourself and you're fighting your own body. It has this kind of hallucinatorially strange quality for me. Sometimes you're feeling things that aren't there. And sometimes I even get that sense. I will feel things on my skin when I'm looking at the skin and there's nothing there. And and It can be spooky in a way. And notably, there's lots of different ways to feel itchy.

There's burning itch. There's kind of electric itch. There's sunburn itch. Our brain is amazing at sensing things in unbelievably refined ways. And so, yeah, you know, sometimes it's just a bug bite. And sometimes I'm like, I could write a book trying to describe this.

There's burning itch. There's kind of electric itch. There's sunburn itch. Our brain is amazing at sensing things in unbelievably refined ways. And so, yeah, you know, sometimes it's just a bug bite. And sometimes I'm like, I could write a book trying to describe this.

There's burning itch. There's kind of electric itch. There's sunburn itch. Our brain is amazing at sensing things in unbelievably refined ways. And so, yeah, you know, sometimes it's just a bug bite. And sometimes I'm like, I could write a book trying to describe this.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

I think everybody who listens to this is going to do that. We can talk about why that is. Why is that? Tell me why that is. So just to go back to one thing that you said, and then I'll answer that question. But yeah, scratching, it engenders pain in the skin, which interrupts the sensation of itch. And it gives you the sense of relief that actually feels really good.

I think everybody who listens to this is going to do that. We can talk about why that is. Why is that? Tell me why that is. So just to go back to one thing that you said, and then I'll answer that question. But yeah, scratching, it engenders pain in the skin, which interrupts the sensation of itch. And it gives you the sense of relief that actually feels really good.

I think everybody who listens to this is going to do that. We can talk about why that is. Why is that? Tell me why that is. So just to go back to one thing that you said, and then I'll answer that question. But yeah, scratching, it engenders pain in the skin, which interrupts the sensation of itch. And it gives you the sense of relief that actually feels really good.

It's really pleasurable to scratch. And then when you stop scratching, the itch comes back. And the problem is that when you scratch or you damage your skin in order to stop the itch, to interrupt the itch, you actually damage the skin in a way that then makes the skin more itchy because you end up with histamine in the skin. And histamine is one of the hormones that

It's really pleasurable to scratch. And then when you stop scratching, the itch comes back. And the problem is that when you scratch or you damage your skin in order to stop the itch, to interrupt the itch, you actually damage the skin in a way that then makes the skin more itchy because you end up with histamine in the skin. And histamine is one of the hormones that

It's really pleasurable to scratch. And then when you stop scratching, the itch comes back. And the problem is that when you scratch or you damage your skin in order to stop the itch, to interrupt the itch, you actually damage the skin in a way that then makes the skin more itchy because you end up with histamine in the skin. And histamine is one of the hormones that

generates itch within the body. But to go back to what you were saying, there's actual studies that show that itching is contagious. So watching somebody scratch will make a person scratch. There's this interesting question, are people scratching empathetically in the way that we will mirror the movements of people around us? in the way that yawning is contagious or crying can be contagious.

generates itch within the body. But to go back to what you were saying, there's actual studies that show that itching is contagious. So watching somebody scratch will make a person scratch. There's this interesting question, are people scratching empathetically in the way that we will mirror the movements of people around us? in the way that yawning is contagious or crying can be contagious.

generates itch within the body. But to go back to what you were saying, there's actual studies that show that itching is contagious. So watching somebody scratch will make a person scratch. There's this interesting question, are people scratching empathetically in the way that we will mirror the movements of people around us? in the way that yawning is contagious or crying can be contagious.