By cprlaw08 April 9, in Sneezing in the Media. I'm actually Indian and in India people use Chhinkni all the time to sort stress issues. When the posts about it here first surfaced I couldn't believe it because some doctors over there prescribe it all the time, sometimes even for daily use.
So I'm not actually sure this is a scam, it's hard to tell because I thought this sort of treatment was only used in India but it could just be a bit if a left field treatment with video diaries for the patients to look back on. Chakra gates are pretty big over in India and it could just be spin off from that that's come over to the US.
No way to be sure though, unless this Dr Bryce tells us otherwise haha. On one hand, these videos aren't that different from the other "sneezing challenge" videos that people encourage women to upload to Youtube. It's unlikely they are intentionally creating fetish content. On the other hand, I sure hope that the "patients" in these videos realize that the "therapists" are not following professional rules of conduct and shouldn't be seen as real mental health professionals.
What scares me is that the woman who shared her personal account in the link upthread didn't seem to question the lack of informed consent, poorly controlled experimental conditions, refusal to provide contact information or university affiliation, etc.
I feel like it should have been obvious to anyone who's ever taken a research methods course that this is not a legitimate study. I'd think the dude starting to talk about her belly button sexually might be a clue-in, but I feel like women are socialized to laugh off those comments as being harmless.
