NEWS: Swearing to kill the pain?
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Arkanay
LordRemington
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NEWS: Swearing to kill the pain?
Next time you stub your toe, go ahead and let those four-letter words fly. Cursing actually does help dull our perception of pain, research suggests.
In the study, researchers from the UK's Keele University asked participants for five words they'd likely use after hitting their thumb with a hammer; the first word listed would be their go-to profanity during the experiment. (They were also asked to list five boring words -- ones they'd use to describe a table.)
Participants were then instructed to submerge their unclenched hand in a container of 41-degree water, and keep it there -- while repeatedly cursing -- for as long as they could. Before and after plunging their hands into the chilly water, their heart rate was recorded. And after they could no longer stand the cold temperature, they were asked to rate the amount of pain they were in, too.
What's surprising is that the researchers had thought that swearing would make the cold water feel much colder, lowering the participants' tolerance for pain and heightening their perception of it. "In fact, the opposite occurred -- people withstood a moderately to strongly painful stimulus for significantly longer if they repeated a swear word rather than a nonswear word," write the team, led by Keele University psychologist Richard Stephens, in the journal Neuroreport.
From the way participants' heart rates accelerated post-swearing, the psychologists believed their fight-or-flight response had been activated -- that may be because cursing can amp up feelings of aggression. (Think of a bunch of rowdy NFL players psyching each other up before a big game.)
Interestingly, women reported feeling less pain after swearing a blue streak. (Hilariously, the researchers report that cussing "did not increase pain tolerance in males with a tendency to catastrophise." That's the polite British way of saying some of the boys were total drama queens.)
Has your own research already proven that a few well-timed swear words can soothe a stubbed toe? Do tell.
http://bodyodd.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/04/18/6489832-swearing-really-is-a-powerful-painkiller-study-shows
If this study holds any water, Australians must be able to withstand more pain than any other country
Do you swear when you hurt yourself?
I quite normally do. Depends on the severity, but normally a burn will make me swear my head off. Also dropping heavy things on my toes causes extreme gutter mouth for myself.
Re: NEWS: Swearing to kill the pain?
I think a topic similar to this one has been created before, but I cannot find it.
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For some people, swearing helps stand the pain, whether it's physical pain or emotional pain.
Swearing if you get hurt is no biggie, IMO, but when it's used for other purposes, that's when problems start.
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For some people, swearing helps stand the pain, whether it's physical pain or emotional pain.
Swearing if you get hurt is no biggie, IMO, but when it's used for other purposes, that's when problems start.
><
Arkanay- EuroSpore 2007
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Spore Name : Arkanay
Age : 33
Re: NEWS: Swearing to kill the pain?
I remember a similar topic, but can't find it either...
I also remember a similar article a while back, although I think I read it through yahoo! oddly enough news.
I dont really swear, I say mild swear words to myself when being stupid and forgetting things and when I do somthing wrong in a game. But I don't tend to swear when I've hurt myself.
Usually I do a FUUUUUU, that exact noise That somtimes gets the mind off the pain, so I don't think its really the swearing but the acknowledgement and expression of pain that makes it better. Its like your brain going 'FUUUU- actually, hey, it wasnt that bad.'
I also remember a similar article a while back, although I think I read it through yahoo! oddly enough news.
I dont really swear, I say mild swear words to myself when being stupid and forgetting things and when I do somthing wrong in a game. But I don't tend to swear when I've hurt myself.
Usually I do a FUUUUUU, that exact noise That somtimes gets the mind off the pain, so I don't think its really the swearing but the acknowledgement and expression of pain that makes it better. Its like your brain going 'FUUUU- actually, hey, it wasnt that bad.'
Red-Indigo- Euro Moderator
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Spore Name : Orbixitron
Location : In my own little world...
Age : 33
Re: NEWS: Swearing to kill the pain?
The secret to standing pain longer is to look at the area that is feeling the pain, it helps the brain combat the impulses of pain allowing you to stand it for longer than normal.
Re: NEWS: Swearing to kill the pain?
Mythbusters tested this, and established from their "weak" scientific method that swearing in fact does help to cope with pain. The sample was only 5 though, so not scientifically reliable.
I don't think it matters, I think it depends on yourself entirely. if you believe it works, it will work, if you don't think it works, it won't. If you don't care either way I suspect that it will sometimes help and sometimes not.
I don't think it matters, I think it depends on yourself entirely. if you believe it works, it will work, if you don't think it works, it won't. If you don't care either way I suspect that it will sometimes help and sometimes not.
Re: NEWS: Swearing to kill the pain?
I agree vek. I do that somtimes when in cold situations... ie, when its raining. I found physically hunching and thinking, its cold... makes it worse. Standing up straight and strolling through it makes it a much nicer experiance.
I guess its the same with pain, its about how you approach it.
I guess its the same with pain, its about how you approach it.
Red-Indigo- Euro Moderator
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Spore Name : Orbixitron
Location : In my own little world...
Age : 33
Re: NEWS: Swearing to kill the pain?
I have to admit I sometimes do it, for example today when we jumped straight into the water (which was freezing) we were all cursing - I can't decide whether it helps the pain, but the first thing that comes to mind when relieving pain is swearing. I wonder why?
Trick- EuroSpore 1992
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Spore Name : bobmarleyrulz
Location : Sunny Dorset, in the UK.
Age : 27
Re: NEWS: Swearing to kill the pain?
Swearing is a fairly safe way of relieving anger and frustration. Pain, in my experience, is usually associated with these two emotions. For example, you are angry with yourself for hitting your thumb with a hammer, it is the anger for this that causes the swearing as opposed to the pain. Swearing and Pain are probably associated as Pain and Aggression so often find themselves in the same situation.
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