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A Beginner's Guide to Exploring Sexual Synaesthesia and Its Link to Trauma

  • Writer: Brainz Magazine
    Brainz Magazine
  • Jun 24
  • 10 min read

Sam Mishra (The Medical Massage Lady) is a multi-award winning massage therapist, aromatherapist, accredited course tutor, oncology and lymphatic practitioner, trauma practitioner, breathwork facilitator, reiki and intuitive energy healer, transformational and spiritual coach, and hypnotherapist.

Senior Level Executive Contributor Sam MIshra

Anyone who knows me or has read some of my previous articles will know that I am no stranger to sharing the more personal aspects of my life, and this article will be no different. In my last article, “Unlocking Pleasure by Exploring the Reasons Why Women Struggle to Achieve Orgasm,” I talked briefly about how, for many women, myself included, the social conditioning and perceptions within our external environment affect our view of ourselves and of sex, impacting our relationships, intimacy, and sexual expression and fulfilment. For many years, these factors meant that I experienced a lack of complete sexual fulfilment. However, I now feel a bit more confident, more open, and less influenced by my conditioning, which may have contributed to the topic of this article.


Neon spirals of colorful light swirl on a black background, featuring bright pink, green, and red hues, creating a dynamic, vibrant mood.

I recently met someone who has started to change the way I view relationships with men. He is emotionally intelligent, funny, attractive, creative, a good communicator, and he accepts me just as I am. Something happened while we were being intimate that left me with many questions. I started to see very vivid colours, mostly a deep but vibrant blue and purple. This had never happened to me before, other than when I offer Reiki to people, but even that was not as vivid as this. I contemplated the possible reasons why this had happened, maybe it was some kind of energy transfer between the two of us, maybe he was giving me healing or vice versa, or maybe it was something similar to the postcoital dysphoria that I’d experienced once before, a kind of release of internalised trauma, except that this was happening during the event rather than after.


I decided to do some reading around this subject and discovered that there is such a thing as sexual synaesthesia, synaesthesia being a perceptual phenomenon where sensory or cognitive stimulation results in further involuntary sensory or cognitive experiences, for example, seeing different colours while listening to music. I was curious as to whether this effect was related in any way to the trauma I had previously experienced.


What is sexual synaesthesia?


Sexual synaesthesia is considered to be a neurological condition, affecting only around 2% of us, where orgasm, or occasionally other forms of sexual activity, can trigger unusual sensory experiences. These experiences are usually visual, such as colours, but may also come in the form of hypersensitivity, altered taste, or a heightened emotional state. A trance-like state with altered consciousness may also occur, and this has been reported to be similar to that experienced while under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs. The colours appear to be random rather than connected to any physical or environmental aspect of sexual arousal or orgasm; they may be moving, static, simple, or complex. All cases involve a common trigger in the form of an intimate tactile stimulus and complete relaxation, but it remains unclear whether certain colours are linked to particular movements or levels of satisfaction. Cases of synaesthesia occurring with romantic, but not sexual, experiences could indicate that there is an emotional aspect involved. Women seem to experience these visualisations more than men do.


What kind of colours and images are perceived?


I have encountered numerous descriptions of these visualisations, which appear to be akin to hypnagogic hallucinations and may manifest during activities such as meditation. As with hypnagogic images, the random visualisations consist of abstract colours and shapes, complex patterns, and sometimes images of objects, people, and places, but they are rarely of a sexual nature. Natural elements like trees, flowers, and the countryside are frequently seen. The characters and places can be familiar, but are more often strangers and locations the individual has never visited.


Colours tend to be random, morphing into other colours or moving, although some people have reported certain colours correlating with satisfaction levels or sexual positions. They may occur as flashes, complex patterns or shapes, or even like fireworks. Some may see specific objects or locations such as flowers, a forest, or a waterfall, but they are usually also random.


Experiencing sexual synaesthesia, while rare, does not indicate sexual dysfunction or any kind of mental health issue, but may be connected to other neurological conditions. The sensory experiences tend to remain consistent over a period of time but may only occur as a random event. They almost always involve visual phenomena, altered states of consciousness and sensations, potentially a feeling of being detached from the body, and increased emotional intensity. Feelings of detachment and emotional changes are certainly consistent with trauma, which can also be a factor in postcoital dysphoria, which I had previously experienced, so could this explain this synaesthetic event?


What are the psychological implications of sexual synaesthesia?


These experiences may have positive or negative implications. While synaesthetes may enjoy a more intense sensory experience and increased arousal, the lack of understanding about the experience or the inability to communicate it to a partner may create feelings of isolation and disconnection, which could reduce sexual satisfaction despite heightened desire. The internal experience may also detract from partner engagement, which again could cause a disconnect. While the British Psychological Society has suggested that the relationship could be negatively impacted, research on this subject is limited, and further exploration of the outcome in terms of sexual satisfaction and relationship dynamics is needed.


Experts suggest that the altered state of consciousness, along with emotional and visceral manifestations, could signify a hypersensitive limbic system. The limbic system refers to the parts of the brain that control your emotions, behaviour, and memory, including the amygdala, which is involved in stress responses and processing trauma. If this trauma-processing unit in the brain is already overactivated due to trauma and then stimulated further by the emotional aspect of a sexual connection, potentially, this could increase the likelihood of synaesthetes being those with unresolved trauma.


How is intimacy affected?


While difficulty in communicating the synaesthetic experience to a partner may create feelings of isolation, particularly if they have not experienced it themselves, sexual satisfaction doesn’t have to be affected if the partner is receptive to what you are telling them. Communicating a synaesthetic experience can present challenges, especially if it is the first incidence and you don’t fully understand the complexities of it yourself, but there is also the potential for creating a deeper emotional connection.


What criteria do we use to define good sex or intimacy? Surely this is subjective. The level of arousal, orgasmic intensity, emotional connection, etc., will be different for everyone and interconnected with many other aspects of the relationship. While studies have suggested that sexual satisfaction may be reduced with much more intense levels of arousal, my feeling is that my synaesthetic experience increased the connection with my partner, and maybe this is a learning opportunity for me to discover more about myself, my trauma, and how I interact in intimate relationships. However, if we don't repeat the experience, there's a clear risk of disappointment.


Misconceptions about sexual synaesthesia


There is a misconception that sexual synaesthesia is a common sexual dysfunction that increases sexual satisfaction and occurs consistently. However, it is a perceptual experience rather than a disorder, occurring in approximately 2% of the population, where altered perceptions do not necessarily equate to increased satisfaction. Distinct sensations and manifestations create each individual experience, and no two experiences are the same. Colour and sexual synaesthesia are also just a small part of a spectrum of synaesthesias, and with limited studies or diagnostic measures available, it is important to dispel misconceptions to avoid negative experiences for others who may find themselves in the same situation.


What does the research say?


There has been very little research into orgasmic synaesthesia, and while it has been estimated that between 2 and 4% of people experience it, many will not be aware that they are synaesthetes because they don’t compare their orgasmic experiences with others.


Experiences varied, but participants in studies all suggested that their emotional states were influencing their synaesthetic perceptions. Depending on whether the participant was in a state of arousal, approaching orgasm, or when their excitement plateaued, the colours sometimes varied. For some, the intensity of colours increased as their excitement peaked, while for others, orgasm acted as a catalyst for deep blue and violet hues, culminating in a climax that felt as if the walls had collapsed. This was my personal experience, and I talked in my previous article about the blocks I had to orgasm, which makes sense given the emotional and physical walls I had built around me following trauma. This also potentially supports my thinking that maybe synaesthesia is somehow connected to trauma.


Other experiences described their trance-like state of synaesthesia as simply feeling different, rather than more satisfying. The dissolution of the boundaries of the ego, which is what protects us following trauma, was also often reported, again suggesting that orgasm potentially brings some release of trauma when we enter that trance-like state. Sensory perceptions, including disembodiment and imagery, otherwise referred to as visionary restructuralization, were also commonly reported.


Studies that have been completed have shown that while synaesthetes exhibited increased sexual desire and functioning compared to the control participants, they also appeared to experience less sexual satisfaction. This was thought to be because, despite enhancing their personal sexual experience, they felt unable to share it with their partners, who weren’t experiencing the same visual and sensory perceptions, which created a disconnect.


What is evident is that sexual synaesthesia requires more research to gain a clearer understanding of why and how it happens. Research to date has not found a higher correlation between synaesthesia and any particular gender. Is this higher incidence in women because there is actually a higher incidence, or is it simply that women are more likely to report it? Synaesthetes are considered to be more emotional people, and certainly, sex for women is generally considered to be more of a psychological experience compared to men, for whom it tends to be more physical.


It has been suggested that sexual synaesthesia with colour is not only connected to increased emotional responses but also to altered cerebral activity and genetic predisposition. We must, of course, also consider individual differences in terms of triggers, how we perceive things, and how easily we can enter various states of consciousness. There have been cases of familial occurrence, suggesting possible genetic predisposition, and the role of COL4A1 and ITGA2 genes in axonogenesis may also potentially impact synaesthetic experiences.


The link between altered brain connectivity and synaesthesia


It is unclear exactly what causes synaesthesia, but it has been suggested that it may be the result of separate sensory nerve pathways becoming connected, creating abnormal activity, i.e., visual and sensory pathways connecting to those that control sexual arousal. Sensory deprivation has also been put forward as a contributing factor, causing sensory perceptions outside the norm. This could also potentially form part of the argument for synaesthesia being linked to trauma. Altered neural connections have been observed in individuals with PTSD. Of course, the individual predisposition of each person, related to their unique brain development, must also be considered.


The link between heightened emotional responses & synaesthesia


The limbic system, otherwise known as the emotional nervous system, consists of a few different structures in the brain that are responsible for thoughts, emotions, memories, behaviours, and responses to the autonomic nervous system, such as heart rate, which increases with sexual arousal.


The limbic system processes information from the external environment and then controls the way we respond to stimuli and also regulate; hence, it affects our pleasure and pain responses and sexual arousal. The amygdala, which is a major component in how we process trauma, is part of this system. This explains why our ability to self-regulate, our responses to pain, and our sexual function can all be affected by unresolved trauma stored in the brain.


We also know from the research that has been done that heightened emotional states can increase the likelihood of synaesthetic experiences, and a hypersensitive limbic system can contribute to these heightened emotions.


Is synaesthesia trauma-induced?


Research is exploring how trauma, sexuality, and synaesthesia are interrelated, but this is in the early stages. Memory recall and sensory re-experiencing in synaesthetes, however, suggest a link between synaesthetic activity and PTSD, although it isn’t thought that trauma is the root cause.


When we experience various sensory perceptions combined during synaesthetic events, this could make us more vulnerable to sensory flashbacks that arise from fragmented traumatic memories stored in the amygdala. Sensory flashbacks and heightened arousal are particularly prevalent following sexual or early childhood abuse. Therefore, those memories that we suppress and store in our subconscious are still being activated through sensory experiences, somehow transforming those fragmented parts of ourselves into a heightened sensory awareness.


It has been suggested that while sexual synaesthesia and sexual experiences are not generally connected, there is a specific type of trauma-induced colour-sexual synaesthesia that is triggered by sexual trauma, most likely due to an overactivated limbic system and altered consciousness around the trauma. It is also thought that there may be sensations outside what would be considered a ‘normal’ sexual response, which could occur due to altered sensory boundaries following sexual abuse. While trauma doesn’t cause synaesthesia, perhaps it awakens a neurological state that has always been present due to genetic predisposition or other, so far unidentifiable, causes.


Studies have shown that synaesthetes tend to recall traumatic memories with more sensory detail, and this, combined with the increased sensory perceptions that occur with synaesthetic experiences, may promote dissociation and emotional overwhelm, similar to what is seen in post-coital dysphoria.


In conclusion, while trauma probably doesn’t directly cause synaesthesia, we can see how the neurology behind synaesthesia could impact the sexual, sensory, and emotional experience of those with unresolved trauma.


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Read more from Sam Mishra

Sam Mishra, The Medical Massage Lady

Sam Mishra (The Medical Massage Lady), is a multi-award winning massage therapist, aromatherapist, accredited course tutor, oncology and lymphatic practitioner, trauma practitioner, breathwork facilitator, reiki and intuitive energy healer, transformational and spiritual coach and hypnotherapist. Her medical background as a nurse and a midwife, combined with her own experiences of childhood disability and abuse, have resulted in a diverse and specialised service, but she is mostly known for her trauma work. She is motivated by the adversity she has faced, using it as a driving force in her charity work and in offering the vulnerable a means of support. Her aim is to educate about medical conditions using easily understood language, to avoid inappropriate treatments being carried out, and for health promotion purposes in the general public. She is also becoming known for challenging the stigmas in our society and pushing through the boundaries that have been set by such stigmas within the massage industry. 

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