Feeling Cold
Hot or cold. Light or dark. Loud or quiet. Firm or soft. Many sensory experiences can be described as one, or the other. But, in my experience, people are less prepared to feel cold than they are other feelings. Many are shocked and uncomfortable with even mild chilliness. If somehow the volume from a speaker or the brightness of a lamp could be translated into the same quantity of cold sensation, that person complaining about the cool temperature would be unimpressed by equivalent decibels or lumens.
Even when people react uncomfortably to other sensations, they know how to protect themselves. Turn down the volume in the headphones. Slide the dimmer on the light switch. Take off your shoes after a long day with them squeezing your feet. Rub some dirt on it. But, many people don’t know what to do with the cold.
Much of this psychological. It takes years of focus and determination, usually living in a place that gets truly cold, to mentally grasp low temperatures and make them submit to your will. This task is made more difficult because, as advertised, the popular, beautiful people live scantily clad lives in warm, sweaty places. Remember, being cold is just another feeling, like being hungry or sleepy. The experience isn’t always ideal, but it has its place, and can be dealt with.
This cognitive hurdle is more difficult to overcome than the somatic one. There are simple, evidence-based steps to take when physically in a low-temperature environment. Which is why we here at whatsthesitch.com made a flow chart, and an informational table, to help you find answers when you aren’t feeling your warmest.
Table 1: Tips and Tricks
We sincerely hope this helps any of you who dislike feeling cold, who suffer from low-temperature-induced dysphoria. We have no judgement; many of us here at whatsthesitch.com have a similar aversion to feeling itchy. We get it. We just want to part of the solution. Once you are able to curb cold’s impact on your life, you’ll find the world becomes a much larger place.
