“Scent plays a critical role in the human
experience beginning on our first day in the world. Our mother’s scent is one
of the first we experience—it has a vital function in proper emotional
development in infants—and scent continues to be important throughout our lives.”
Role of Fragrance
Fragrance plays a musical tone of memories
and beautiful moments when you are around your love ones. Why is it said that
nature could heal an ill person?
The reason states that beauty of the nature
and the fragrance of the flowers and fruits directly affects one’s mind,
creates fulfillment and wish to live more. A soothing fragrance can help you
heal your wounds that are mentally engraved.
Mental Welbeing
Mental welbeing is about your thoughts and
feelings and how you cope with the ups and downs of everyday life. It’s not the
same thing as mental health, although the two can influence each other.
There are a number of factors which affect
our mental well being and one of them is fragrance. It seems strange but the fragrance
plays an important role in our mental well being.
How Fragrance Affect Our Physical
Appearance
We are biologically wired to be drawn more
strongly to people whose natural chemicals, or pheromones, trigger reactions in
us.Perhaps that’s why perfumes exist: smelling nice can lead to a higher
perception of overall appearance.
It can signify cleanliness, and can add to
our “odour print,” something that is uniquely ours, sort of like our fingerprints.
This is how the fragrance affects our physical appearance.
How Fragrance Affect Our Mental
Wellbeing
If we talk about how fragrance or scent
affect our mental well being in particular then we need to understand how our
brain responds to the fragrances that we smell.Our brain contains a lot of
systems and one of the system where feelings, moods, emotions and our behavior
is processed is called limbic system.
Odour
molecules flow to this system and builds a powerful story that affect our emotions.
Scent is so closely associated with the emotional centers of the brain,
research has shown that emotions may be influenced by what we smell.
Positive Impacts
Scent is positively associated with
nostalgia, memory, and self-image—which means the right scents can evoke
pleasant feelings and promote overall improvement in well-being.
Research suggests that the practice of
smelling or applying essential oils for therapeutic benefit may aid
psychological health, from reducing stress to promoting brainpower and there by
improving our mental well being.
It Can Even
Refresh Memories
Likely,
a fragrance might remind you of a person. There is a reason why many soldiers
during World war 2 kept their wife’s handkerchief with themselves. This made
them feel their presence. These are the moments where mental health and
fragrance influences one another.
According to a study conducted by Matsunaga
et al in 2011, people who experience nostalgic smells (the one which is
personal to them) use to feel a sense of happiness and connection which leaves
them to the world of memories.
Negative Impacts
Fragrance is not only about good smells, fragrance
technology plays a big role taking on malodours, the technical name for “stinky
smells” (think garbage, public latrines, or body odour) and these malodourshave
adverse effects on our mental well being.
If you go through any area that is stinky
and polluted then you might experience headache and change in your behavior.
Our cells navigates the smell to our mind
which, then, reacts accordingly. Your bad odour may let you down in front of
your friends and in any professional meeting.
Example
A freshly baked cake is preferred over a cake that is baked a day ago. The reason behind that is its fragrance and freshness. One would love to eat something that is tasty as well as smells good. It directly poses an impression in one’s mind to buy that cake which smells good.
Similarly, sometimes you can differentiate a raw mango and
Alphonso mango. Everything possess a smell either good or bad but surely that
smell acts as an input for the mind to react.
Conclusion
What’s more, our mind and body are so
intrinsically connected that the benefits of scent on mind can also positively
enhance our psychological well-being too.
Positive moods and emotions elicited by scent
inhalation can arouse beneficial effects on mental, hormonal, nervous and
immune system health through this connection.
Research has shown that people who have
lost their sense of smell also report high rates of depression, anxiety,
isolation and relationship difficulties.
So by this we can understand how strong the
connection is between mental well being and fragrances and how a good fragrance
can improve our mental well-being.
This pandemic has introduced a lot of
restrictions and anxiety into our everyday life. So, its better to stay healthy
and keep your surroundings clean and aromatic.
“ A smell is not only a smell, it can link
you to memories and emotions”
Written By -
Radhika Gandhi
Edited By –
Prachi Raheja
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