Olfactory Fatigue

When we travel to South Carolina to visit our daughters and grandchildren, we pass two paper mills. One is in Franklin, Virginia. The other is in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina.

The aroma of the mills always greets our noses. One may wonder why the people living there put up with the smell.

The reason is simple. They do not actually notice the aroma. When our noses smell a persistent unpleasant odor, the brain senses it. Therefore, after a period of time, the nerves carrying the smell to the brain are ignored. The aroma no longer exists.

This is what is known as olfactory fatigue. It is a protective mechanism that the brain uses.

We have all visited houses that have some kind of aroma. It might be a pet smell. It might be air freshener. It might be musty. The house owners do no usually even notice it because of olfactory fatigue.

Some individuals may not bathe regularly. Those around them know that is the case. However, the individual may have developed olfactory fatigue to the smell of their own sweat.

We commonly see this effect in cigarette smokers. Their environment has the odor of smoke. Their clothing smells of smoke. Their car interior may smell like smoke. However, they may never notice it because of olfactory fatigue.

We now see a similar thing with cannabis users. The aroma that they develop is somewhat akin to that of a skunk.

People that pass them on the street notice it. People that go by their house notice. When their car goes by, it is noticeable.

The problem is that they do not realize that they smell like skunks. Olfactory fatigue has desensitized them to the aroma of the cannabis.

You might have noticed someone asking the question about why they do not realize how badly they smell. The answer is relatively simple. Their brains have used olfactory fatigue to shut off the aroma.

This mechanism helps the individual. Their brain is keeping them from smelling unpleasant odors. They do not realize just what others are noticing. They have olfactory fatigue at work.