With a wine tasting career and fragrance studies leading her passions, when Helena lost lost her sense of smell for three weeks with Covid, she panicked. Very luckily for her, it came back. This is not always the case with anosmia, sadly. Here’s why you need to know about this debilitating ‘hidden disabilty’.
Our sense of smell is so much more important than we think. Sadly, it’s not until we lose it that most of us realise this fact. It is a hidden disability.
Covid-19 certainly raised the awareness of viral anosmia; losing your sense of smell after exposure to a virus, but the devastating effects this can have on a person from extreme weight loss to severe depression, are still not discussed or recognised in medicine as much as they could and should be. Smell is, after all, our most primitive sense, governing our most basic instincts as well as memory and all sorts of emotions. Losing it, whether total (anosmia) or partially (hyposmia) can have a devastating effect on our mental health and quality of life.
This Anosmia Awareness Day, I want to highlight some of the negative ways anosmia can affect people, to raise awareness and help find new avenues of research into finding a cure.
Eating problems
Even hyposmia can have a significant effect on the enjoyment of food, which often leads to a lost interest in eating, which can then in turn become so severe, it leads to eating disorders and malnutrition. A desperate attempt to taste something can lead to the addition of too much salt or sugar, which brings its own negative effects on health.
Social disconnection
Anosmiacs report feeling lonely and disconnected from the world, unable to engage in their environment or bond as well with other humans. Relationships appear more strained as your subscious is aware it is ‘missing something’ from the conversation - and it is. Bonding even with loved ones is harder. Losing a major part of one of life’s greatest human pleasures - to eat and drink with a tribe - can also be devastating. We feel left out of a social connection, even if we are physically present.
Depression & Anxiety
These combined effects of anosmia can lead to paranoia, anxiety, depression and anhedonia; the inability to feel pleasure. How do we know if we - or our home - smells bad or not? Did we leave the gas on? Will I know if I step in something? How can we tell if what we are serving our guests is well cooked? It’s easy to see how anxiety can be ramped up and depression can find a way in, as so many of life’s pleasures are stripped away.
Danger
Our sense of smell is crucial for warning us of potential dangers, often numerous times a day. From smoke or a gas leak to food that has gone off and bread caught, burning away in the toaster. Without it, we are stripped of some crucial survival skills.
Can anything be done to help anosmia?
There’s not currently an official cure for anosmia but in some cases, retraining the nose to smell has had some positive effects, so it’s worth a try. Anosmia awareness charity Fifth Sense suggest smelling the same strong scents for around twenty seconds each day while really paying attention to what you are doing. Essential Oils are the most effective here as they are strong and they last a long time. Pick four very different ones will have a greater effect. They suggest rose, lemon, clove and eucalyptus.
Are you affected by a full or partial loss of smell? If you need help and advice or just want to find a community, check out Fifth Sense.
Words by Helena Nicklin