Is there such a thing as a "sympathetic sneezer"?

[ticklywombat]

I mean, someone who tends to sneeze (or feel like sneezing) when they see/hear other people sneeze. I find this to be a fun concept, and this thread was inspired by another one that's running at the moment.

I mean, I'm happy writing fiction about this concept even if it doesn't exist in reality, but... does it exist in reality?

(I'm one of the people who is more interested in fictional than real sneezes, so why I'm so interested in finding out whether this fantasy is possible in reality I don't know, but I'm curious!)

[deadaccount]

I have yet to meet someone like that, but I find it to be a fun concept.

[Joal 555]

On 2/9/2022 at 10:42 PM, ticklywombat said:

I mean, someone who tends to sneeze (or feel like sneezing) when they see/hear other people sneeze

It definitely happens with yawning, but sadly I've never come across it with sneezing.

 

[strong sneeze32]

In my opinion, the concept exists, but does not seem to have been reported by scientific research yet.

Some of the comments under that thread support the existence of the concept.

However, I have not yet found any relevant studies on Google Scholar, PubMed or EMBASE. (To describe the “sympathetic” in "sympathetic sneezer", I chose terms like “social mirroring”, “mirror neurons” and “contagious”.)

This seems to be a potential area for medical development. 

 

[Mal]

maybe a thread I started is the one you're referring to, but yes I think I fall into this category! it's not as straightforward for me as hearing someone sneeze and then immediately turning around and sneezing, but I have really found that when I consume enough sneezy content, it always makes me sneeze at least once and I am not much of a sneezer otherwise, so it certainly seems related! 

[Maxx]

I was actually considering to start the same thread a while ago. 

I was sitting in a bus when 3 people sneezed, they all had a similar sneeze (stifle), within 2 minutes. Then I also started noticing that when you are in a room with a lot of people, there seem to be moments where multiple people are sneezing, within a short period of time, like sneeze chains.

Edited February 16, 2022 by Maxx

[Mal]

The only other thing it seems comparable to is the domino effect of yawning which is something scientists seem to be unsure of the exact reason for as well! A lot of people seem to think the reasoning for the contagiousness of yawns is something called "social mirroring" and in this one PBS article explains it like this, " when animals mimic others, they must be recognizing a useful behavior. Without thinking, they decide, 'This behavior must be very useful. So, I better do it.' "

Here's the link to the article (its about yawning but maybe some of the info applies to this phenomenon with sneezing as well!): https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/why-are-yawns-contagious-we-asked-a-scientist

 

[spc_anubis]

27 minutes ago, Mal said:

The only other thing it seems comparable to is the domino effect of yawning which is something scientists seem to be unsure of the exact reason for as well! A lot of people seem to think the reasoning for the contagiousness of yawns is something called "social mirroring" and in this one PBS article explains it like this, " when animals mimic others, they must be recognizing a useful behavior. Without thinking, they decide, 'This behavior must be very useful. So, I better do it.' "

Here's the link to the article (its about yawning but maybe some of the info applies to this phenomenon with sneezing as well!): https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/why-are-yawns-contagious-we-asked-a-scientist

 

Or perhaps to some small extent a degree of echopraxia possibly?

[Moose]

I find when I am consuming sneezey content I will often have to sneeze once. I think (for us folks on here anyway) that it might just be due to a state of arousal and increased blood flow to the face and nose that may make the nose more sensitive

[Mal]

3 hours ago, Moose said:

I find when I am consuming sneezey content I will often have to sneeze once. I think (for us folks on here anyway) that it might just be due to a state of arousal and increased blood flow to the face and nose that may make the nose more sensitive

Yeah that's definitely possible! I guess for me it just doesn't happen when I'm aroused in any other context...

[starpollen]

🙋‍♀️ It happens to me!  When I’m scrolling YT and listen to some sneezes eventually I will also sneeze.  Not a fit, just a sneeze here or there as I’m *ahem* enjoying listening to others.  But it’s a regular occurrence and one that I expect when listening to others sneezing for a certain amount of time.