On this wonderful Friday the 13th, I thought I would post a short blog about a fascinating word and condition: phantosmia. Eerie sounding, isn’t it?

In fact, it’s the technical name for the phantom smells I experience now and again. (See my previous article about it here.)

A few days ago, the burning smell/taste sensation returned, heralding what feels like a minor sinus infection. My only conclusion is that this phantosmia serves as my own personal warning system.

I did some more digging about the condition, and turned up much of the same information as I did the last time I poked around. (Though, this time I discovered the actual word for it.) After everything I’ve read, were I to experience the burning smell and not have sinus issues soon after, I’d be very worried. The main causes listed for phantosmia are brain tumours, seizures, schizophrenia and the like.

It also seems I’ve gotten lucky in the type of smell/taste I get. There are a number of reports of more drastic sensations such as rotten meat, garbage, sulfur, etc. The burning smell is one of the most common ones cited.

There also appear to be some more innocuous types of phantosmia. One reporter told a story of how she would always experience one type of smell or another for years at a time, and that other smells would sometimes trigger the phantosmia and replace the previous smell. She started out smelling damp earth after working with some house plants, then it was burning chili from her husband cooking dinner, followed by lavendar from a trip to France and so forth and so on. There was no telling what the next smell would be, and no way to actively try to alter it.

I also found accounts of extreme cases of phantosmia that led people to consider and/or attempt suicide. Their phantosmia was so drastic, and so relentless that everything they consumed would taste rotten and unpleasant. Lucky for me, mine is distracting, but not unbearable.

If you’re interested, there is a Wikipedia article on phantosmia, but it’s very brief. A general search for the term will yeild a lot of personal accounts and advice about the condition.

Check out my latest article for ThinkLeet!

Confessions Of A First Time Cosplayer