According to a study conducted by researchers from the European Psychiatric Association, exposure to human odour, i.e., the odour of sweat collected from others, can help in treating some mental illnesses. In the study, the researchers demonstrated that social anxiety was reduced when patients were exposed to human chemo-signals. These chemo-signals are body odours derived from volunteers underarm sweat.Lead researcher Dr Elisa Vigna of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm stated that the findings of the study showed that combining these sweat-derived chemo-signals with mindfulness therapy produced better results in treating social anxiety in comparison to the results produced by mindfulness therapy alone.

In the study, the researchers enrolled 48 women who were suffering from social anxiety. In comparison to the control group, which was exposed to fresh air, the treatment group was exposed to a different odour, obtained from the sweat samples of people who had seen different types of video clips.

The result of the study showed that women who were exposed to sweat from people who had been watching funny or fearful movies responded better to mindfulness therapy. It was seen that women who underwent one session of mindfulness therapy along with sweat exposure showed a reduction of 39% in their anxiety scores in comparison to a 17% reduction in anxiety scores as seen in the control group.

 (Source: https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/health/sniffing-other-peoples-body-odour-may-help-treat-mental-health-issues-study-491487 )