Losing your sense of smell

 As everybody knows by now, losing your sense of smell is one of the first symptoms of Covid-19. Some survivors have yet to regain that sense. I didn’t realize how devastating the loss of smell could be until I read an article about it in The New York Times. As one scientist said, “You think of it as an aesthetic bonus sense. But when someone is denied their sense of smell, it changes the way they perceive the environment and their place in the environment. People’s sense of well-being declines. It can be really jarring and disconcerting.” Many sufferers lose their ability to feel pleasure and develop a strange sense of detachment and isolation. What’s more, when you lose your sense of smell, you lose much of your sense of taste. All you can taste is salty, sour, sweet, bitter and umami (savory/brothy/meaty).

Here is what some of the sufferers have said:

“I feel alien from myself. It’s also kind of a loneliness in the world. Like part of me is missing, as I can no longer smell and experience the emotions of everyday basic living.”

“I feel discombobulated—like I don’t exist. I can’t smell my house and feel at home. I can’t smell fresh air or grass when I go out. I can’t smell the rain.”

“I call it the Covid diet. There’s no point in indulging in brownies if I can’t really taste the brownie. For a few months, every day almost, I would cry at the end of the day.”

I, for one, haven’t appreciated how important my sense of smell is to my sense of well-being. Now I do. 

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