Phantosmia (Olfactory Hallucinations): Why You Might Detect Smells That Aren’t There (2024)

FAQs

Phantosmia (Olfactory Hallucinations): Why You Might Detect Smells That Aren’t There? ›

Phantosmia refers to detecting smells that aren't really there. It's a symptom of many common conditions, including allergies, colds and upper respiratory infections. It could also indicate a brain-related condition, including epilepsy, stroke or Alzheimer's disease.

Possible causes range from nasal polyps to a stroke. Phantosmia is also called a phantom smell or an olfactory hallucination. Causes include problems with the nose, such as sinusitis, or conditions of the nervous system or brain, including migraine, stroke, or schizophrenia.

An olfactory hallucination, known as phantosmia, makes you detect smells that aren't in your environment. The odors you notice in phantosmia are different from person to person and may be foul or pleasant. You may notice the smells in one or both nostrils.

Symptoms of psychosis

hallucinations – hearing, seeing, smelling or tasting something that isn't there. changed behaviours and feelings.

Olfactory hallucinations have been observed in various neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease (3), Parkinson's disease (4), epilepsy (5), and migraine (6), as well as in psychological disorders, such as schizophrenia (7), depression (8), bipolar disorder (9), and substance abuse (10).

a brain tumour in the temporal lobe could lead to sensations of strange smells (as well as other symptoms, such as, difficulty with hearing, speaking and memory loss)

It's a symptom of many common conditions, including allergies, colds and upper respiratory infections. It could also indicate a brain-related condition, including epilepsy, stroke or Alzheimer's disease. If you have phantom smells that last longer than a few weeks, schedule an appointment with your healthcare provider.

Anxiety can cause a wide variety of symptoms, including phantom smells (phantosmia or olfactory hallucinations). Many people with anxiety report smelling odd smells that other people do not smell.

The prevalence has been estimated to range between 0.8% and 25% depending on the clinical group studied (Nordin et al. 1996; Landis et al. 2004), yet little is known about the prevalence of phantosmia in healthy individuals.

Any one or combination of stress and anxiety factors, can cause phantom smells, which can be intermittent or persist for as long as the body is hyperstimulated.

What is stage 1 of psychosis? ›

Phase 1: Prodome (psychosis syndrome)

The early signs may be vague and hardly noticeable. There may be changes in the way some people describe their feelings, thoughts and perceptions, which may become more difficult over time.

Olfactory reference syndrome (ORS), also known as olfactory reference disorder, is an underrecognized and often severe condition that has similarities to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). People with ORS think they smell bad, but in reality, they don't.

While aging is a common cause, phantom smells can be a sign of underlying medical conditions or endocrine disorders such as hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism is a deficiency of thyroid hormones - thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3).

If you're constantly smelling something nobody around you seems to be able to smell, you may have a condition called phantosmia. It's a term used to describe olfactory hallucinations -- that means the organs related to your sense of smell are sensing odors that aren't really there.

Cleaning inside your nose can help

Rinsing the inside of your nose with a salt water solution may help in the meantime to stop the strange smell. You can make a salt water solution at home.

Some people (synesthetes and non-synesthetes alike) have an exceptional olfactory or gustatory memory and/or a great ability to recreate smells or flavours in their mind. In fact, some can even physically smell or taste them when they do this. It is called olfactory hyperphantasia or gustatory hyperphantasia.

Parosmia is a distorted sense of smell. It happens when smell receptor cells in your nose don't detect odors or transmit them to your brain. Causes include bacterial or viral infections, head trauma, neurological conditions and COVID-19. Parosmia is usually temporary, but in some cases, it's permanent.

Smell-O-Vision is a system that released odor during the projection of a film so that the viewer could "smell" what was happening in the movie. Created by Hans Laube, the technique made its only appearance in the 1960 film Scent of Mystery, produced by Mike Todd Jr., son of film producer Mike Todd.

Synesthesia is when your brain routes sensory information through multiple unrelated senses, causing you to experience more than one sense simultaneously.