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Swearing 'helps to reduce pain'

S

Sniffles

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Fuck yeah it does!

Uttering expletives when you hurt yourself is a sensible policy, according to scientists who have shown swearing can help reduce pain.

A study by Keele University researchers found volunteers who cursed at will could endure pain nearly 50% longer than civil-tongued peers.

They believe swearing helps us downplay being hurt in favour of a more pain-tolerant machismo.

The work by Dr Richard Stephens' team appears in the journal NeuroReport.

Dr Stephens, from Keele's school of psychology, came up with the idea for the study after swearing when he accidentally hit his thumb with a hammer as he built a garden shed.

He recruited 64 volunteers to take part and each individual was asked to submerge their hand in a tub of freezing water for as long as possible while repeating a swear word of their choice.

They were then asked to repeat the experiment, this time using a more commonplace word that they would use to describe a table.

Despite their initial expectations, the researchers found that the volunteers were able to keep their hands plunged in the ice water for a longer period of time when repeating the swear word.
BBC NEWS | Health | Swearing 'helps to reduce pain'
 

Antimony

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My friend sent me this the other day.

Of fucking course it fucking does! We had been talking about it the other day and everything. Makes sense.
 

Antimony

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^ I don't. I view the pain objectively and kill it with logic.

No, I am not even kidding.
 
V

violaine

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Interesting. I don't swear much but the last time I broke my toe I cursed a blue streak and strangely I think it did help. Perhaps this works due to distraction... I have heard that they talk about the concept of good pain in antenatal classes and focusing on the outcome as a way to focus thoughts away from the pain.

^ I don't. I view the pain objectively and kill it with logic.

No, I am not even kidding.

Impressive!
 

Antimony

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Ahhhh NTs....got to love them! :D

Hey, if it kills the pain.

No, you're kidding.

No, I am quite dead serious.

I have a couple stories, and all of them involve me being a little to happy in the ER. I love it. People think I am nuts, because I should be on the ground crying, but I am laughing because I have already analyzed the pain, broken it down, and concentrated everything to the point where I don't feel it. It is like breaking down emotional pain. It is very interesting.

You should try it someday.

EDIT: People think I am even crazier when I yell, did you fucking see that? And burst out laughing. I do cuss, but not to relieve pain.
 
P

Phantonym

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Swear in different languages and besides relieving the pain, make it also a cultural experience! :laugh:
 

Risen

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It's the same as any other coping mechanism to reduce the conscious perception of pain or relieve stress, such as screaming in karate or yelling when you're in pain. Not sure why everyone in the news thinks its so amazing... we curse all the time (or at least i do).
 

JivinJeffJones

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It works fine for physical pain (eg hammer on thumb), but the spectre of Tourette syndrome has really fucked it up for those of us who would like to use it for emotional pain. Especially when said pain is brought on by unpleasant memories which pop out at you randomly.
 
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