can anyone with a mental block relate?

[extreme]

I don’t sneeze in front of people, ever. Not my friends, not my family, no one. but I also just don’t ever feel the need to sneeze when I’m with people, only when I’m alone. Does anyone know how that happens? 

I recently went on a trip with a friend and I was constantly with them and I didn’t sneeze for days. Can anyone relate?

[Lauren]

Ok yes, I can 100% relate to this!! If I'm staying with family or friends for an extended time, I could even go weeks without sneezing.

I very rarely get the urge to sneeze when I'm with friends or family. The exception is my parents, because I'll sneeze in front of them sometimes. But even then, I will have a split second to decide whether I want to or not, and the urge sometimes goes away in that second. 

I think it's just how I've trained myself over the years. I remember when I was maybe 3 years old, I didn't like hearing people sneeze (because it was too distracting for me), so I set out to prove that you could control when you sneeze. Whenever I was around somebody else, I would just try to hold back the sneeze. Eventually I guess my body just gave up on sneezing in public.

But if I'm alone in my room or something, then I will definitely sneeze naturally on occasion, for example first thing in the morning. 

[Sequoia]

Me too. But I'm not sure how it happens (or not happens, in this case). There's only one friend of mine who has ever heard me sneeze. And that happened long ago, while I was outside and she still in the house, with the door open. I'm not even sure if she really heard it (she could have been in the next room or something), but it was still super awkward as I knew she was somewhere nearby.

32 minutes ago, Lauren said:

I will have a split second to decide whether I want to or not, and the urge sometimes goes away in that second. 

With me, it's rather a point of realization. When others are around, I only get to this point and then the urge simply  disappears. Even if I want to, it won't work. It is as if this block kicks in and disconnects the "sneeze nerv" in my nostrils, sometimes accompanied by a really short burning sensation (only when I have a cold, the sneezes are stronger then, I suppose).

Usually, the urge doesn't even show up when I'm in public.  But if it does, it will return rather sudden as soon as I'm home (or alone in a restroom or whatever). Even hours later, which is kinda confusing from time to time. For example, I once stayed at a riding camp and slept in the stable for a week, it was all dusty and everyone was sneezing, like, all day. I didn't. I mean, I couldn't. But on the day after, I recall having quite a few sneezing fits.

I  don't know if I could stop a sneeze when no others are around. I've never tried, but as this whole process seems to happen subconsciously, I don't think I'd manage to do it on purpose. I also don't remember training this, but it certainly had to do with the awkward feeling I've always had with sneezing. 

And non-fetishists do notice it. I've already had two discussions with friends who were wondering why they'd never seen me sneeze. At least I'm not lying when I say I don't know 

[Lauren]

7 hours ago, Sequoia said:

And non-fetishists do notice it. I've already had two discussions with friends who were wondering why they'd never seen me sneeze. At least I'm not lying when I say I don't know 

Really?? I have always wondered about this and been self-conscious that it was true, but I always assumed I was just paranoid because I know most non-fetishists don't think that much about it! 

Can you expand more on that? How did the conversations come up? Did you bring it up? 

[Sequoia]

@Lauren: I was filming a short clip for school with three friends (two of them were twins). While filming, one of the twins sneezed once. Her sister immediately paused the camera and looked at her expectantly. She (and I as well, as you can assume) knew that her sister would have to sneeze two times more, as she always sneezes in threes. But my other friend (K, to simplify matters) didn't know that and asked why she was waiting. 

Then a really awkward conversation came up, as the second twin explained hers (doubles) and her sisters (triples) sneeze habits in a very detailed way, how her eyes water and how many times she usually sneezes a day. K then described how she sneezes (at least doubles, sometimes triples and really long fits if she's ill, also the fact that she always has to use a tissue afterwards and so on) and how all of her family members sneeze. One of the twins added K she sneezes a lot in general and all of us know how she does that. K laughed and started to list all the times she had heard the twins and other friends sneeze and while they seemed to be really interested in the topic, I was kinda dying and pretended to read my lines once more 

After they had analysed the sneeze habits of all our friends, K suddenly stated that she'd never heard me sneeze. The twins hadn't either, so they all wanted to know how that could be possible and how I sneeze, if I do.

I don't think that non-fetishists cross that topic too often, but it might happen after someone sneezes... The second time was just like that, I had a cold and my friend hadn't and still she was the one who sneezed twice that day, so she kinda started a conversation about how I never sneeze.

[Lauren]

@Sequoia ohh got it, thanks so much for explaining!! Damn, that must have been so awkward for you... 

I think I've been in a conversation like that maybe once or twice before and remember trying to change the subject ASAP or walk away before I became the subject.... 

Also it's interesting that your friend K could remember all the times that your other friends sneezed. Of course, I can remember many times that my friends have sneezed, but based on my conversation with my non-fetishist bf, I was under the impression that most "muggles" pretty much forget about the event right after someone sneezes, like how I would forget if somebody coughs or yawns. So maybe it differs from person to person! 

[Luisa39]

I can kind of relate because, while I often sneeze when I'm in earshot of other people, I never sneeze when they can actually see me and usually don't even feel the urge to sneeze then.  As to why this happens, I've always assumed that my nervousness about others seeing my buildup/pre-sneeze face just naturally "scares away" the very urge to sneeze.

[Nik]

I can also very much relate.

I trained myself to not sneeze in front of others and it resulted in me not being able to sneeze in front of others anymore. When I'm on my own I sneeze way more frequently but also not very often (2-3 times a week). But if im around others a lot I can sometimes not sneeze for many weeks.

I've been trying to change that thou, I kinda wanna sneeze in front of others know. I feel like im getting closer to sneezing when I feel the urge and I try to induce in public (using chinniki for example, when no-one sees it) and try to re-learn it. Does anyone have experience with getting over a mental block like that?

[Lauren]

On 5/8/2018 at 6:29 PM, Nik said:

I can also very much relate.

I trained myself to not sneeze in front of others and it resulted in me not being able to sneeze in front of others anymore. When I'm on my own I sneeze way more frequently but also not very often (2-3 times a week). But if im around others a lot I can sometimes not sneeze for many weeks.

I've been trying to change that thou, I kinda wanna sneeze in front of others know. I feel like im getting closer to sneezing when I feel the urge and I try to induce in public (using chinniki for example, when no-one sees it) and try to re-learn it. Does anyone have experience with getting over a mental block like that?

I am also trying to get over the mental block... sorta. Sometimes if I'm in my office and the door is cracked open, if I can feel a sneeze coming I try to let it out, or induce it if need be. So far, I still haven't been able to sneeze in front of strangers. Since I induce somewhat often in front of my bf, sometimes I feel a pretty strong need to sneeze when I'm around him, but thus far it has yet to come to fruition without being induced.

Although, I'm not sure if I want to get over the mental block. Besides the self-consciousness of wondering if people notice that I never sneeze, I feel like not having control over my sneezes would be inconvenient/embarrassing. What if I'm giving a presentation, or in a quiet library or something? 

What do you guys think? Are there benefits to the mental block for you?