Over the years, I could swear I’ve put enough thought into this topic to write a dissertation! LOL It began in childhood, when on many occasions I witnessed what appeared to me to be a phenomenon. I’d watch a sibling or parent tickle a child, who would wiggle and laugh hysterically, in an obviously ticklish response. However soon after, (and sometimes immediately), someone, like a friend of the parent, or some other person the child didn’t have the same relationship with, would tickle the child and get absolutely no reaction. Not fear, not anger, just no response. It was almost as though the child was saying, “I don’t know you, you can’t tickle me.” I witness this every now and then now, but it really made an impression on me during my childhood and was the source of my initial wonder about subjective ticklishness.
Way back in the early days of the internet I read where one of our tickle-clan wrote “tickling is 90% mental.” Given the often unknown and untapped powers of the mind, I tend to agree. I also tend to think the parameters for this type of question are different for tickle lovers than for the non-tphiles, because the relationship we have with it automatically shapes our mental perception of it to a degree. From what I’ve seen it seems there has to be an initially understanding it’s possible to control ticklishness. Once that occurs it comes down to mind over matter… or in this case, stimulus. Conversely, desire is also a factor as there are many who never have a desire to not be ticklish or tickled.
Personally, I never liked for someone to use tickling as a method of control or power over me. Now, if my mental state is such that I’m disappointed, upset or otherwise displeased with a situation or the person attempting to tickle me, my ticklishness just shuts off. I still feel it, but I don’t react to it and it’s really not even a conscious thing. In the end who knows why some folks can or can’t? It’s still fun to speculate.
