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Kyoyeou (Ki jəʊ juː) @slrpnk.net

I am very mildly infuriated by the fact that thinking "I am not a fish" genuinely works to stop Hiccups

Ok, here me out, this is so small compare to other c/mildlyinfuriating that people would not casually read what I have to say.

For the last 3 months I've had hiccups 5 times. And I have hiccedup 6 times in total. In Juin It happened for the first time. I had hiccuped once and it reminded me of stories about "telling yourself your not a fish" so at the second hiccup I told myself, "I am not a fish"

Boom, nothing at all. I was mad. Why. God damn why. I am almost now pissed I am not hiccupping this make no sense.

But maybe, it was a random one in a hundred lucky moment where I told it to myself when it naturally stopped. And I awaited the next time .

End of the month of Juin. Going down the stairs from the cafeteria after eating with people,

I had one.

The second it happened I thought to myself how angry I was before and instantly told myself "I am not a fish". And nothing after... Oh boy I was fuming, there is no reason on earth that thinking I am a biped, a homo sapiens sapiens. How can my brain forget that I sapiens the sapiens and goes back to fish mode. You have the capacity if you'd wish to, to build rockets, but you forget your a human and find a bribe of fish DNA in me somewhere, wow

So I continued for the next two month. And after 3 month of evaluation, I have come to the conclusion that for me, this indeed works, but have not accepted the fact this sh.itjust.works .

Thank you for hearing this, and I can only invite you to try it, I personally almost missed the funny feeling of hiccups today doing it almost automatically

29 comments

  • This leads to the only logical conclusion that hiccups occur due to your subconscious believing you are a fish. When you tell yourself that is incorrect, the body normalizes, and the hiccups disappear. Do I have this right?

    • I mean, someone having a hiccup does look somewhat like a fish out of water... Jerky mouth movements, spasmic motion...

    • That's the theory, yeah. That hiccups are something to do with switching between gills and lungs and that reminding yourself you're no longer a fish stops that.

  • For people like me that are curious:

    Cute link to the Wiki page

    A hiccup (scientific name singultus, from Latin for "sob, hiccup"; also spelled hiccough) is an involuntary contraction (myoclonic jerk) of the diaphragm or a disability that may repeat several times per minute. The hiccup is an involuntary action involving a reflex arc. Once triggered, the reflex causes a strong contraction of the diaphragm followed about a quarter of a second later by closure of the vocal cords, which results in the "hic" sound.

    OP's note: myoclonic is fancy for a brief, involuntary, irregular (lacking rhythm) twitching of a muscle, a joint, or a group of muscles

    Cute link to the myoclonic wiki page

    • The phrenic nerve, also known as the major phrenic nerve, is an important nerve that plays a critical role in breathing. It originates from the spinal cord, specifically from the cervical vertebrae (C3-C5), and travels downward to reach the diaphragm, which is the primary muscle involved in breathing. The phrenic nerve controls the contraction of the diaphragm during inhalation, allowing the lungs to fill with air. If the phrenic nerve is injured or irritated, it can cause respiratory difficulties, such as hiccups, as it can lead to involuntary contractions of the diaphragm.

  • A thing that has helped me maybe 90+% of the time (if I recall correctly, it's been a while from the last one):

    1. Empty your lungs
    2. Hold your breath as long as you can
    3. Breathe in and out very fast for a few seconds
29 comments