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Bonnie Blodgett – Remembering Smell

Dr Cushing’s comparison of phantosmia to phantom limb syndrome-"the brain is trying to compensate for the lost or damaged body part"-had me wondering if that was literally true.

Johannes Frasnelli treats smell-impaired patients in Germany. He reported that more than 60 percent of his patients with smell dysfunction had smell hallucinations, and many of these patients also suffered from depression.

His American colleague Don Leopold advises ENTs on how to treat smell dysfunction. Leopold urges doctors to pay close attention when patients mention weird odours. This isn’t so easy.

Only 5 to 10 percent of phantosmia victims admit to having these sensations. This is because "symptoms were not taken seriously by their general practitioner [or] their families." In other words, they assume he's either nuts or acting like a baby.

'Among smell pathologies," wrote psychologist and fragrance consultant Avery Gilbert in his book What the Nose Knows, "the most appalling is cacosmia, in which everything smells like shit."

My world smelled like shit, puke, burning flesh, and rotten eggs. Not to mention smoke, chemicals, urine, and mold.