Sad Nipple Syndrome: A Booby Baffler

Hi. Hello. Tell me about your nipples. Well, where to start? Hi. I'm Wendy Zuckerman, and you're listening to Science Versus. Today on the show, a curious medical mystery. Let's just jump right in. So, when my friend Scarlett was really little, four or five, she noticed something really strange. Whenever any kind of touch to the nipples occurred, like putting on a singlet or something, I would get a really terrible feeling. Whenever a shirt happened to brush past her nipples, this overwhelming feeling came over her. And now, years later, Scarlett says that while her nipples aren't as sensitive as they used to be, she still told me that whenever anyone touches her nipples, she gets this very specific feeling. I think of it as being like feeling homesick or even a bit hungover. Like, you know when you wake up in the wrong place and you're kind of feeling a bit lost or a bit depressed, almost a bit of a sense of anguish or despair even, just feels so uncomfortable in my body. Like, if you were feeling the worst sadness you were ever feeling, and so I just wanna not touch them anymore. Once her nipples are in the clear, not being touched anymore, Scarlett feels like herself again. She said it's just this weird thing that happens to her. The kind of thing that you think is normal at first until you start talking to other folks about it. It's kinda like this thing she remembers a friend saying at a party. Yeah. You know when you, like, fart into your hand and you catch it and you sniff it? And everyone went, no. And they said, yeah, me neither. It's a bit like one of those. I think, yeah, if you put it out there that, yeah, you know you know you know when you're having a lovely sexy time and someone really cool touches your nipples and you just feel like crying and you feel really homesick and sad and despairing, And everyone goes, What? What on earth is that about? Oh, damn it. Yeah. And you go, Oh, yeah. Me neither. Scarlett started wondering why this was happening. Why was she different? And eventually, she goes online and Googles, It feels bad when I touch my nipple. And there it was. Loads of other people saying, It happens to me. And now, years later, there's been viral videos on social media. The condition even has a name. It's called sad nipple syndrome. And all over the world, it seems like people are talking about it. When my nipples get touched, it is just this, like, sinking, weird feeling of, like, sadness, homesickness. They get nostalgic or sad. And I feel this dread. And And then I got on the Internet, and a lot of women were talking about it. That is a thing, and the name is sad nipple syndrome. And not just women, some men too. Scarlett couldn't believe it. …