Swearing Makes Pain More Tolerable

[redqueen]

Swearing Makes Pain More Tolerable
livescience.com – Sun Jul 12, 10:10 am ET

That muttered curse word that reflexively comes out when you stub your toe could actually make it easier to bear the throbbing pain, a new study suggests.

Swearing is a common response to pain, but no previous research has connected the uttering of an expletive to the actual physical experience of pain.

"Swearing has been around for centuries and is an almost universal human linguistic phenomenon," said Richard Stephens of Keele University in England and one of the authors of the new study. "It taps into emotional brain centers and appears to arise in the right brain, whereas most language production occurs in the left cerebral hemisphere of the brain."

Stephens and his fellow Keele researchers John Atkins and Andrew Kingston sought to test how swearing would affect an individual's tolerance to pain. Because swearing often has an exaggerating effect that can overstate the severity of pain, the team thought that swearing would lessen a person's tolerance. As it turned out, the opposite seems to be true.

(more at link)

Neat!

[Captain Hilts]

1. IF you save swearing for when you really need it. nt

[cwydro]

2. I read something on that some time ago

and that it also releases stress.

I'm not much of a user of swear words, so when I use them generally people know I am royally irked.

And it does make me feel better, lol!

[Starbucks Anarchist]

3. I read "Pain" as "Palin."

:rofl:

[WCGreen]

4. Me too... Swearing make Palin more tolerable....

[redqueen]

7. Hahaha...

I meant to post this in the Lounge. :blush:

[rusty charly]

10. Me, too!

[unpossibles]

12. Me too, and I almost fucking agree. nt

[slackmaster]

13. Me too, and the reason I clicked on the OP was so I could Unrecommend it

I ended up Recommending it instead.

:kick:

[City of Mills]

18. Same here

I believe it's correct.

[Captain Hilts]

I'll confess, I did too. nt

[myrna minx]

21. So did I. Ha. n/t

[RaleighNCDUer]

22. Well, they are synonymous. nt

[Mrs. Overall]

24. I did that as well!

[margotb822]

25. Me too

Seem to be equivalent though.

[SoCalDem]

26. So did I.. I see those letters, and my brain sees Palin>)

and yes, swearing does come to mind in either case:)

[apples and oranges]

29. Me too.

[Milspec]

31. Me too LOL

[dorkulon]

36. Wow, me too....this is a disturbing phenomenon.

Maybe it's time to step away from the TV.

[Wilms]

39. Count me in.

Heh-heh.

[SeattleGirl]

41. Same here!

And you know what? It works!

:rofl:

[camera obscura]

44. Glad I'm not the only one.

[Ilsa]

5. Yeah, it hurts worse, IMO when I don't let one fly, so a boo-boo can be

extra painful when my kids are at home. It's a good thing they were gone when I broke my foot last fall.

[cwydro]

6. Who in #$%@*

was the dimwit who unrecced this thread, for crying out loud???

[BlooInBloo]

8. Then I'm the most painless motherfucker on the planet.

[BurtWorm]

9. Doctors recommend Fuckitol for faster relief.

Do not use if you have a weak heart, thin skin, or live in a monastery where you have taken a vow of silence. Some users have been known to get smacked when used at inopportune moments.

[pleah]

11. That is why I am never sick.

:evilgrin:

[lib_wit_it]

14. Thanks for this--I swear (!) I was just wondering about this yesterday after quite a wicked stream

of curses involuntarily spewed forth upon yet another minor injury while I was gardening. I was feeling a bit unsavory over the foulness, but did suspect that it was somehow helpful. Muthafuckin cool study!

[redqueen]

17. I found it interesting

that they expected the opposite result. I would have expected it to come out this way.

[gorfle]

15. Damn! This is why I cussed so much while Bush was in office!

:)

[backscatter712]

16. Fuckin' A! n/t

[TheMadMonk]

19. Men swear to keep from crying. Women cry to keep from swearing. nt

[proteus_lives]

20. No surprise!

I learned at an early age that a heartily yelled, "MOTHERFUCKER!" can be as effective a band-aid or cold compress.

[spanone]

23. dupe

[cali]

27. No it doesn't. No matter how much I swear, Palin is still intolerable.

[Iggo]

28. So it wasn't just me, then.

Pain = Palin

:rofl:

[woofless]

30. Good, now I have and excuse to my sweetie

about why I have just riled up the dogs shouting "You fucking piece of shit." whenever W, or Dick, or Kristol, or Buchanan, etc. grace the tv screen.

Woof

[spin]

32. Oops, I misread that as "Swearing makes Palin more tolerable."

time for new glasses.

edited to add...

After I read through the posts, I found that I wasn't the only one who misread the title. Either a lot of us need new glasses or the idea makes sense.

[juno jones]

33. This is interesting:

"Swearing has been around for centuries and is an almost universal human linguistic phenomenon," said Richard Stephens of Keele University in England and one of the authors of the new study. "It taps into emotional brain centers and appears to arise in the right brain, whereas most language production occurs in the left cerebral hemisphere of the brain."

A key perhaps to Tourette's and the subconscious?

[omega minimo]

34. and perhaps healing

where one "drives out" the pain by vocal ejaculation.

[Karenina]

46. Also my first question!

:toast:

[KittyWampus]

35. this brings to mind what a very astute DU'er said regarding why humans experience grief

When something out of the ordinary happens, we need a way to process it. To either release the influx of energy or to gain some objective higher ground.

[rug]

37. This explains GDP.

[Matariki]

38. I've been trying to tell my co workers why I'm such a potty mouth!

the code - it hurts...

[TexasObserver]

40. You're goddamned right it does!!

[armyowalgreens]

42. FUCK SHIT ASS BITCH COCK!!!

Sorry stubbed my toe. :7

[Skittles]

43. I've long suspected that is true

I remember having to stifle such a response when I stubbed my toe at a boyfriend's parent's house and I remember thinking at the time, this would hurt less if I could just scream FUCK!!! FUCK FUCK FUCK!! :D

[Raine]

45. No wonder I swear so much

it makes it all more bearable. :-)