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Swearing Makes Pain More Tolerable

LiveScience
LiveScience
posted: 7 HOURS 30 MINUTES AGO
comments: 119
filed under: Science News, Health News
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LiveScience.com
(July 13) -- 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.
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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.
The researchers enlisted 64 undergraduate volunteers and had them submerge their hand in a tub of ice water for as long as possible while repeating a swear word of their choice. The experiment was then repeated with the volunteer repeating a more common word that they would use to describe a table.
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Contrary to what the researcher expected, the volunteers kept their hands submerged longer while repeating the swear word.
The researchers think that the increase in pain tolerance occurs because swearing triggers the body's natural "fight-or-flight" response. Stephens and his colleagues suggest that swearing may increase aggression (seen in accelerated heart rates), which downplays weakness to appear stronger or more macho.
"Our research shows one potential reason why swearing developed and why it persists," Stephens said.
The results of the study are detailed in the Aug. 5 issue of the journal NeuroReport.
© Imaginova Corp. All rights reserved.
2009-07-13 09:10:21

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37 votes


(119)
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Ctlr505

05:14 PMJul 13 2009

%^$#* *&^%^......@#$%.......^&%#@.........and furthermore....?*&^&%$......%^$#@. Oh man.......I feel much better now.

AVG RATING:
(4)

JT8MAN

05:11 PMJul 13 2009

There was alot of swearing after the last presidential election

AVG RATING:
(3)

Ben Sawya

05:08 PMJul 13 2009

Having done work as an electrican for forty years I can lay a cussing on inantimate objects that will not cooperate or feeling the effects of electric shock. I have never cursed another individual in my life but it sure stress relieving when things go wrong.

AVG RATING:
(2)

TexasFisherman07

05:05 PMJul 13 2009

sixeyes...yep. those lions are worse than sailors.

AVG RATING:
(2)

Sixeyess4dinner

05:04 PMJul 13 2009

Roman Emperor Nero reported hearing a lot of cussing during lion-feeding time...................

AVG RATING:
(0)

TexasFisherman07

05:02 PMJul 13 2009

i have been known to use the words s*** and f*** simply because these are things people do. if you've never f*****, well s***. if you've never s***, f*** !!!!!!

AVG RATING:
(1)

Sixeyess4dinner

05:01 PMJul 13 2009

When nailed to the cross, Jesus repeated yelled "God damn it!!".............

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(0)

Sixeyess4dinner

04:59 PMJul 13 2009

AntiMarxist2009 04:53 PMJul 13 2009 Well NO F*CKING SHIT !!! I already knew that you @sswipes...jesus, and to think, these guys get paid to figure this sh*t out. Unreal@@@@@@ There is no record of Jesus' participation in this study. However, there is record of Jesus involved in a longterm study to determine the level of gullibity in people regarding hearing something over and over..and finally accepting it as truth...............

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(3)

AntiMarxist2009

04:53 PMJul 13 2009

Well NO F*CKING SHIT !!! I already knew that you @sswipes...jesus, and to think, these guys get paid to figure this sh*t out. Unreal

AVG RATING:
(2)

TexasFisherman07

04:52 PMJul 13 2009

to those of you who claim to never cuss, as redd foxx once said, meet me later this evening and i'll slam you hand in my car door. you'll say s**t, f***, and word you didn't even realize you knew.

AVG RATING:
(5)

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