Ever since the stinky apartment incident, I’ve been thinking more about anosmia. Did you know that it’s considered a disability? And did you also know that there’s a positive correlation between olfactory deficits and schizophrenia (sources at bottom)?

I’ve often wondered what it’s like to smell. I recall the first time I realized that there was something different about my sense. It was back in first grade. Our teacher had all these numbered paper bags, each containing something with a distinctive odor (chocolate, an orange slice, cinnamon, etc.). Our activity was to go around with a little list of smells, smell the bags without opening them, and match the number of the bag with the smell. I remember everyone else having no problems with this; they’d stick their noses up to the bags, inhale, and say “oh, that’s chocolate” (or whatever the smell was), and write it down. I was trying to copy them—I stuck my nose up to the bags and tried to smell, but all the bags “smelled” the same to me. I thought I was doing it wrong somehow.

Haha, I don’t know why I remember that day so clearly, but I do.

Anyway. Just a random memory that I felt like divulging ‘cause it’s been on my mind lately. And also because I have nothing else to blog about tonight.

Here are the anosmia/schizophrenia sources:

Brewer, W. J., Wood, S. J., McGorry, P. D., Francey, S. M., Phillips, L. J., Yung, A. R., et al. (2003). Impairment of olfactory identification ability in individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis who later develop schizophrenia. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 1790-1794.

Corcoran, C., Whitaker, A., Coleman, E., Fried, J., Feldman, J., Goudsmit, N., et al. (2005). Olfactory deficits, cognition and negative symptoms in early onset psychosis. Schizophrenia Research, 80(2-3), 283-293

Good, K. P., Whitehorn, D., Rui, Q., Milliken, H., & Kopala, L. C. (2006). Olfactory identification deficits in first-episode psychosis may predict patients at risk for persistent negative and disorganized or cognitive symptoms. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 136, 932-933.

Kamath, V., & Betwell, J. S. (in press). Olfactory identification performance in individuals with psychometrically-defined schizotypy. Schizophrenia Research.

Moberg, P. J., Doty, R. L., Turetsky, B. I., Arnold, S. E., Mahr, R. N., Gur, R. C., et al. (1997). Olfactory identification deficits in schizophrenia: correlation with duration of illness. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 154(7), 1016-1018.