Smell of sweat may ease social anxiety for some people, researchers find

BOSTON – People with social anxiety may benefit from smelling other people's sweat.

People with social anxiety or social phobia experience extreme fear in social situations and often benefit from mindfulness therapy.

In a small preliminary study, researchers exposed 48 women with social anxiety undergoing mindfulness therapy either to odor extracts from other participants' sweat or to clean air.

They found that the women exposed to the sweat odors had a better response to the mindfulness therapy.

They say chemical signals in odors can elicit certain emotions in people and that those with social anxiety may be more sensitive to sweat odors.

If this positive effect is replicated in larger studies, exposure to sweat odor might be a drug-free way to enhance mindfulness therapy in patients with social anxiety.

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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