Sensory Profile : Scent Avoider
Your struggle zone: sensitivity to smells
You have the ability to smell a scent from 100 miles away! Smells that some find quite pleasant or tame you feel repulsed by and it can make you feel sick, like you’re going to wretch. You can often detect very tame smells – things that other people can’t and you just have to get away from that smell.
It might be something others find really enjoyable but you hate it! It could be strong-smelling food, but equally it might not be overly strong, and others may not notice it, but it certainly does not agree with you. It could be a certain sweet perfume or anything in between.
Being over-sensitive to smell can lead to another unwelcome problem such as avoiding the toilet, either at home or public toilets when out and about. So, apart from wearing a nose clip (which let’s face it is not always practical, comfortable or even possible), what strategies and tools can you use to help?
Secret weapons:
- Find a smell that you do like! Carry it with you, to try and neutralise that upsetting odour when you come in contact with it. It might not be appropriate to spray someone or something you don’t find pleasant, but you can use it to neutralise smells in open public spaces, or public toilets.
- Spray a scent you enjoy around the neck of your clothes or a scarf and that should help reduce the intensity of other smells.
- If it is a particular place that hosts that smell, avoid it if you can. If you can’t (perhaps it’s work or school) then have a conversation with a trusted person in authority and see what you can work out.
