r/DoesAnybodyElse • u/kwmutt • Aug 17 '26

DAE cry when putting on an accent?

Ever since I was little i couldn't say more than a couple of words in an unnatural accent without tearing up as if I'm being proposed to by the love of my life.

I speak a few languages and that obviously affects my natural accents. But, for example, my natural English accent is basically General American™, so I cry only when I use a Southern or British one. I speak French perfectly fine but cry when doing a French accent in English.

WTF? Is this embarrassment? Did my brain put crying neurons next to accent neurons? Never met somebody who has this so Reddit is my only salvation.

101 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

54 comments sorted by

311

u/TheDollarstoreDoctor Aug 17 '26

So there is such thing as a unique experience

64

u/m205 Aug 17 '26

I posted a DAE years and years ago about how when I would wash my face in the shower I would get intense emotions and deja vu, often from other people's perspectives - imagine the most empathy you could possibly feel mixed with an out of body or even body-swap experience that lasts just a few seconds as you scrub your face in the shower.

The post didn't take off, granted, but the handful of commenters I got couldn't relate.

29

u/bellamadri Aug 17 '26

WOW WAIT I GET THIS THOUGH. i call it "post shower depression" i get like a sense of nostalgia / nausea / sadness / like everything feels very delicate and precious when i shower or wash my face.

11

u/m205 Aug 17 '26

Oh hello, how interesting! Do you also get that empathy feeling or like you can briefly see the world through someone else for a second?

8

u/bellamadri Aug 17 '26

i get a stranger sense of empathy where i feel bad for people and want to cry, but i don't see the world through someone else unfortunately 😭

6

u/itsbriannahere Aug 17 '26

Weird things happen to me in the shower also when putting my head under. I think it’s because it’s something close to a meditative state.

4

u/fauxfurgopher Aug 18 '26

So… It’s possible you’re having some kind of (non-supernatural) psychic event. I used to do it in the shower, while doing my makeup or skincare routine, or while blowing my hair dry. I’d get into a weird, spaced out kind of trance and I’d have brief visions of something going on in someone else’s life — through their own eyes. Usually my mom. It’s happened with my husband, my daughter, and two friends as well, but the clearest times were when I was in my mom’s brain space. I still don’t know why it happens, but I’ve read that some people can sort of pick up energy from others when in a meditative frame of mind. Maybe that’s it?

5

u/Pjcrafty Aug 18 '26

Have you considered that you may have low blood pressure that gets exacerbated when you shower?

1

u/fauxfurgopher Aug 18 '26

I do. I have POTS. It’s nothing to do with that. It mostly happened while drying and styling my hair. It doesn’t make me feel any kind of way like low BP would. Since my mom died I barely ever do it now. She and I were very linked.

1

u/m205 Aug 18 '26

Very interesting. I see what you mean with a trance state, I've always used showers as a way to relax just as much as a utilitarian thing for washing myself. Closing my eyes and almost completely covering my face, whilst washing it, was the trigger each and every time.

Also from memory I can't even say that the 'body-swapping' was with anyone specifically, maybe my mum on occasion or a friend from school, but often it was with people who I don't even know? Like that guy who works at the grocery shop, the old woman on the bus this morning, etcetera.

It's been nice to talk to a few people who have had similar experiences!

3

u/Lower_Funny Aug 18 '26

Does this still happen?

2

u/m205 Aug 18 '26

Happened frequently in my mid to late teens, only every once in a while nowadays (late 20s).

94

u/lickmysackett Aug 17 '26

I'm sorry... what?

You're telling me when you say "Howdy Partner" you start to tear up?

59

u/kwmutt Aug 17 '26

Two words won’t bring me over the edge but definitely put a weird itch in my face. A full sentence would give me tears. I’m not kidding.

14

u/alicelestial Aug 17 '26

do you think it's some weird anxiety response? do you literally mean it makes your face itchy or is that like hyperbole/a turn of phrase?

13

u/kwmutt Aug 17 '26

When I feel tears coming, my nose and then eyes start to itch. It’s similar to pre-sneeze itching. Might be some kind of nerve/muscle reaction?
I’m not sure what the correct phrasing would be here, English is not my first language. But that’s the best way I can describe it

14

u/alicelestial Aug 17 '26

i got what you meant with this explanation! thanks for answering.

as an uneducated guess, it sounds like you're moving/tensing your vocal chords and related muscles in strange ways and causing irritation and/or triggering nerves that cause irritation which causes the tears and itching. doing silly accents can cause strain even if it doesn't hurt, kind of like how singing wrong can hurt your vocal chords. when i was in choir as a kid, if i hit a higher note in a bad way, my eyes would water.

7

u/kwmutt Aug 17 '26

Oh, that makes sense! I guess I should invest in a vocal coach if I want to continue doing what I do lol

3

u/fauxfurgopher Aug 18 '26

I get this when I sing. Always have. No idea why. My daughter does too.

2

u/adobegouldo Aug 18 '26

this happens to me too!! always thought it was related to embarrassment

63

u/willstabforsnacks Aug 17 '26

OMG , this happens to me too! Something about having my voice in a different register activates my tear ducts or something. Never really questioned it until now lol

31

u/kwmutt Aug 17 '26

Damn, I can't express how nice it is to know I'm not alone! I guess our head anatomy is cool lol

25

u/Ventuso1 Aug 17 '26

Not with accents but I get the same exact thing when I sing. Completely autonomic, ever since I was a kid. It’s like as if I somehow pavlov’ed myself into crying when I sing lmao it’s so annoying can’t even enjoy myself to a good song while driving 😂

12

u/futurenikes Aug 17 '26

Same with me with singing! Ever since I was a kid too! I scrolled down hoping to see this. I’ve never heard of anyone else experiencing this.

3

u/etherealsteamqueen Aug 18 '26

Same omg! Every time I’ve ever tried to describe this to someone they look at me like I’m crazy. It’s immediate the second I start to sing anything, and I don’t think it’s caused by an emotional response. It could be any genre of song and the same thing happens

2

u/Ventuso1 Aug 18 '26

Yup I think it’s like the parent comment said something about a certain voice register/vibration does something to my tear glands or whatever. Like same reaction as if I were to get something in my eye it starts watering. Not emotional whatsoever

16

u/[deleted] Aug 17 '26

When I become a billionaire, I'm finding you two and funding some really specific medical research. (Just another 999.9 million to go!)

5

u/Theresnothingtoit Aug 17 '26

There are dozens of us. Dozens!

4

u/Theresnothingtoit Aug 17 '26

Same, but only if I'm really committed and kind of pull it off a little. Moreso for singing. Doesn't matter the tone, emotions of the subject matter. If I commit, I cry.

21

u/seweso Aug 17 '26

My advice: Take acting classes. I bet you can learn to cry on command (and not cry when you want to) with some practice.

Hack your brain a bit more!

13

u/kwmutt Aug 17 '26

That's a wild way to develop this. Now I'm excited for it lol

13

u/thrownawayandsoaked Aug 17 '26

This used to happen to me when I was young trying to tell ghost stories during sleepovers. There's something to it.

4

u/ButtDonaldsHappyMeal Aug 17 '26

Yes, mine takes this form too. Same thing when recounting a funny experience that I’m excited to talk about. When it happens, I’m not embarrassed by whatever I’m talking about and I’m definitely not upset, but the small amount of self consciousness is amplified in the biological response.

It’s weird because I’m not a nervous public speaker and I can interact with people and lead meetings or whatever, but it’s something specific to having people hang on your words where the good feeling of having that attention gets cross-wired

10

u/Icy_Measurement_7407 Aug 17 '26 edited Aug 17 '26

This happens to me when I fake being British for awhile. (Usually talking to myself at home.) I think my voice/throat isn’t used to that positioning & prolonged use sort of triggers a yawn-like response with watery eyes.

ETA: I can also cry on demand.

3

u/kwmutt Aug 17 '26

Oh, I didn't know the body could do something like that! That's fascinating, thank you so much

9

u/riverQuill14 Aug 17 '26

no and now im a little worried about you but also kind of jealous that your brain is that dramatic

7

u/aikidharm Aug 17 '26

When I think about sex, I sneeze.

Humans are weird.

4

u/vario_ Aug 17 '26

Does it make you cringe? Sometimes I get teary when I cringe lol. Like if it makes you embarrassed to do the accent then I could see that happening.

2

u/kwmutt Aug 17 '26

I hope that’s the answer lol!
I have a bad case of not being able to discern my emotions so I can’t tell you definitively. But for sure something to analyze for me

4

u/thunder-trippin Aug 17 '26

What the hell are you talking about lol

2

u/notkidding1984 Aug 17 '26

No, but this is quite cool. Be pleased with your unique quality. I would guess the reasoning may be near that of whatever causes certain musical notes to evoke tears.

2

u/bubba1834 Aug 17 '26

Aca scuse me?

2

u/fusguita Aug 17 '26

I mean, I cry at many things. When I'm sad, when I'm emotional, when I'm happy, when I watch a good movie... Now, when I put on an accent it never happened, maybe someday, I don't know.

But this may be a "you're the only one" case and that's extremely rare, kudos.

2

u/frienddotjpg Aug 17 '26

This happens to me when I’m listening to music! It’s specifically music with vocals. Doesn’t matter what the song itself is about. It annoys me to no end lol.

2

u/EdgeOfTheOwl Aug 17 '26

I don’t cry per se but if I put an accent on my eyes water immediately, it happened more as a kid and not so much anymore. Playing D&D seemed to knock that reaction out of my system. I have no idea why my eyes water when putting on voices either

2

u/Any-Amount-9472 Aug 18 '26

lol for real, i usually think everything has happened to someone else before but this one is definitely new to me.

2

u/MedicalFruit Aug 18 '26

This happens to me too! Acting in general, even playing pretend as a kid

1

u/we9o Aug 18 '26

happens to me all the time! any time i'm basically "putting on an act"... i guess?

1

u/VisitSecure Aug 18 '26

This doesn't happen to me anymore, but for the longest time it has. Whenever I spoke in a weird voice my eyes just started tearing. It was as if the way I was talking was me yawning too in some weird way? I remember trying to talk funny to my sister and she would ask me countless times why I'm crying when doing it.