# can you smell moods?



## As'laDain (Nov 27, 2011)

this is going to seem a bit odd...

i recently went into a latrine after someone else and i could tell that the person before me had drank coffee recently. specifically, nescafe tasters choice instant decaf. its one of the five or six varieties of coffees available in the area where i work. basically, the guy used the urinal and i could smell it as soon as i walked through the door. 

i have tried all of the kinds of coffee around here and i can smell the difference in my own urine, so i recognized it. there are other things that seem to emanate the smell as well... specifically the palms of peoples hands. if they are talking to me, i can usually tell they had coffee from their breath. if they are waving their hands around, i can usually tell what kind. it doesn't quite smell like coffee itself... not sure how to describe it.


now, i have known for a long time that i have a pretty good sense of smell. i can tell when my wife is anxious because she produces a odd sweet onion kinda smell. if she is extremely anxious, she gains a scent thats kinda hard to describe, like an acidic, garlicy banana, if that makes any sense. i can usually tell her period is about to start before she can because she smells a bit different. if she is ovulating, i can smell a difference there too. 

she used to give me a hard time about not being able to handle certain foul odors, until she realized that i can literally smell her mood swings. 

i have always been able to identify people by the way they smell. a few people seem to have no scent at all, but most people do. it has nothing to do with whether they shower or use cologne or not. as an infantryman, i noticed that there were a couple individuals who i could not smell at unless they drank an energy drink or coffee, or took certain supplements. those things seem to come out in sweat. needless to say i took point a lot when my unit caught on. 


so how about everyone else here? can you smell mood changes? or changes in smell as a result of eating or drinking something(besides beer)? im not sure if i have a strong sense of smell or if i just pay a lot of attention to it. i do know that i am incapable of tasting a wide range of bitter compounds... so maybe my genetics are screwy.


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## Fozzy (Jul 20, 2013)

I think body chemistry definitely affects people's olfactory systems differently. As an example, when my youngest daughter was still in diapers and she'd poop, it was always either myself or my wife that would be able to smell it from across the house--but never both of us. She'd let fly with it, and I'd be sitting right next to her and not smell a thing, but my wife instantly knew. Or the other way around. I'm not sure if it had to do with what she'd eaten or some other factor.


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## Runs like Dog (Feb 25, 2011)

I can smell don't give a f^ck. Usually accompanied by the smoke alarm.


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## Rowan (Apr 3, 2012)

I'm pretty good with smells, and pursue a study of fragrances as an occasional hobby, but even I can't smell mood changes. I'd say you're pretty highly hyperosmic. There's no definitively known cause for hyperosmia, though it is thought to likely be largely genetic. And, of course, the sense of smell is widely known to vary a lot based on hormonal and/or body chemistry factors as well. Most people are familiar with some degree of hyperosmia in pregnant women. 

The major perfume houses usually have one or two people with hyperosmia on staff, as do vintners, distillers, and pretty much anyone else whose trade relies on the fragrance of their product. It's a rare enough trait that hyperosmics are highly sought after in many industries. The flip side of that, of course, is that hyperosmics can sometimes be easily overwhelmed by scents - even ordinarily pleasant ones.


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## Cooper (Apr 18, 2008)

I have always had an incredibly keen sense of smell, and smells affect my impression of people, places and things. I have noticed how the scent of a person changes over the years, from my parents as they aged and my children as they grew. I notice a different smell when someone changes their diet or is sick, but I will say I never noticed different smells for different moods. 

When I was married and suspected my wife (now ex) was cheating on me her scent changed dramatically, to a smell I didn't like, I was never sure if it was age or hormones that caused the change, or just my brain playing tricks on me. 

I certainly believe as our mood changes there's a shift in our body chemistry and would imagine if you're really tuned in to someone's smell you could notice a difference with different moods.


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## dash74 (Jan 3, 2015)

I dont know about mood but I can tell my wife and boys by smell I drove my sons car a few weeks back and it smelled like him not a bad smell just smelled like him also my wife and I have the same type of pillow I can always tell when I have her pillow


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## brooklynAnn (Jun 29, 2015)

I have a very heightened sense of smell. With menopause it even greater now. That's, why I love working with aeromathearpy. I know the smell of my kids, husband and close friends.

I always thought my daughter's smells different when she is angry. But I think that is just the release of hermones/ adrenaline. 

Sometimes, I think when people are sick their bodies give out a different scent, that, is why animals are known to respond to certain sick people.


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## Woodchuck (Nov 1, 2012)

I don't have a great sense of smell, but in the woods, I can smell when there are squirrels in the area, and can locate bluegill bedding areas by smell....


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## Runs like Dog (Feb 25, 2011)

So why does my car smell like liquor, weed and sex? 

Dad stop judging me!!!!!!!


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## As'laDain (Nov 27, 2011)

Personal said:


> I could be wrong here but I vaguely recall reading that high IQ and or highly creative people are often particularly sensitive to sound and smell. My youngest daughter and I often smell and hear things that plenty of other people including my wife and son never notice at all.


i have read that sense of smell can be trained. people who take a smell test will keep scoring higher and higher every time they take it. 

which makes sense to me. i cannot always identify mood changes in people i have never met. they smell different, but that doesn't mean i know what it means. certain things like coffee seem to be common throughout. 

when i was a kid i used to look for gopher tortoises by smell. they have a pretty unique smell to them. that started after i caught one and it crapped all over the place. 

something i cannot tolerate is gardenias a mimosa flowers. they are so pungent they give me a headache and make me feel sick to my stomach. and lysol.... i cant clean with lysol. bleach doesnt bother me at all though.


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## arbitrator (Feb 13, 2012)

*My sense of smell isn't really worth a crap, but I can sure as hell "sense" somebody else's mood patterns! 

Let's just say that I consider my sense of "ESP" as being beyond "excellent!"
*
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## alphaomega (Nov 7, 2010)

Yeah

I can't smell moods. 

My first reaction was that you are a very strange person. Nutso, in fact

But in reality, this is a common thing. In fact, I'm almost positive my dog can smell my mood sometimes, and it's been documented on the Discovery Channel regarding hormones and moods and smells and how animals just smell this shat

Unfortunately, for me. I lost that gene I guess. But I can sure smell asparagus when someone takes a piss after eating it 

Probably not the same.....
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## As'laDain (Nov 27, 2011)

alphaomega said:


> Yeah
> 
> I can't smell moods.
> 
> ...


i wouldn't say its not the same... its exactly like that. asparagus is just REALLY freaking strong. so is spinach and brussel sprouts.


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## john117 (May 20, 2013)

Do you have a corresponding increased sensitivity and capability in taste? Just curious?


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## As'laDain (Nov 27, 2011)

john117 said:


> Do you have a corresponding increased sensitivity and capability in taste? Just curious?


nope, just the opposite. if pinch my nose, i cant taste the difference between salty and sour. i am also a "non taster":
PTC: Genes and Bitter Taste

ETA: now that i think about it, i can hardly stand to eat cake, cookies, etc. because they are too sweet for me. im not a big fan of sweets.


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## Lloyd Dobler (Apr 24, 2014)

At first glance, I thought the title of the post was "Can you smell mods". Glad I re-read it...


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## john117 (May 20, 2013)

I had a neighbor who was a food chemist and his nose was about as good as the mass spectrometer he used...


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## Lloyd Dobler (Apr 24, 2014)

There was an article on Time.com not too long ago about a woman who can smell Parkinson's disease. If that's possible, then perhaps it actually is possible to smell moods, or the chemical changes that go along with them.


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## As'laDain (Nov 27, 2011)

i wouldn't be surprised to find out its possible to smell certain diseases. diabetes sticks out like a sore thumb...

and i already know its possible to smell certain chemicals that are associated with moods. i dont think its that uncommon, but i do think that a lot of people just don't notice it. i have read a few studies that suggest that people respond to odors with changes in their moods, even though they do not consciously associate the odor with the emotion it elicits. 

for a very long time i have had a habit of stopping and asking myself what emotion i am feeling, when i started feeling it, and what changed in my immediate environment that could have caused me to feel the emotion, as well as when was the last time i remember feeling it. that may have something to do with it.


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## john117 (May 20, 2013)

There are physiological changes with moods so it stands to reason those could be smelled. I recall there are documented cases of smells for some behavior in animals so its not too difficult to extend to humans.


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## PieceOfSky (Apr 7, 2013)

I would guess this has been studied... I wonder what you'd find on Google with just the right search terms.



Seems challenging to study correctly. I suppose it is possible you pick up on subtle non-smell clues to your wife's mood, and then maybe smell something not really present in the air. (just suggesting that is a possibility). That comes to mind because I think I pick up on my wife's moods based on non-smell inputs, and because I have heard recently of synthesia:



https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia


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