It seems that expressing yourself, even swearing, can diminish pain, as long as your don’t participate in swear “abuse.” This is the finding of a study by Dr. Richard Stephens and Claudia Umland of Keele University to be presented at the British Psychological Society’s Annual Conference in Glasgow early May. The study examined whether people who swear more often in everyday life get as much pain relief from cursing as those who swear less frequently.
Dr Stephens explains:
“The important message from this latest study is interesting because, while saying that swearing as a response to pain might be beneficial, there is evidence that if you swear too often in everyday situations the power of swearing won’t be there when you really might need it. While I wouldn’t advocate the prescription of swearing as part of a medicalised pain management strategy, our research suggests that we should be tolerant of people who swear while experiencing acute pain. Indeed, I occasionally receive letters from members of the public recounting episodes in which they, as adults, have been chastised for swearing during a painful episode. They feel that my research findings vindicate their actions.”
Seventy one participants aged 18 to 46 completed a questionnaire that assessed swearing frequency. Pain tolerance was assessed by how long participants could keep their hands in icy water. Findings revealed that the more often people swear in daily life, the less extra time they were able to hold their hand in the icy water when swearing, compared with when not swearing. Researchers also saw this effect was four times more likely in the volunteers who do not normally swear.
Researchers also suggested swearing could produce a “fight or flight” response. When we experience excessive stress, whether from internal worry or external circumstance, a bodily reaction is triggered, called the “fight or flight” response. Originally discovered by Harvard physiologist Walter Cannon, this response is hard wired into our brains and represents a genetic wisdom designed to protect us from bodily harm.
This response actually corresponds to an area of our brain called the hypothalamus, which when stimulated initiates a sequence of nerve cell firing and chemical release that prepares our body for running or fighting.
When our fight or flight response is activated, sequences of nerve cell firing occur and chemicals like adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol are released into our bloodstream. These patterns of nerve cell firing and chemical release cause our body to undergo a series of very dramatic changes. The respiratory rate increases. Blood is shunted away from the digestive tract and directed into the muscles and limbs, which require extra energy and fuel for running and fighting. Pupils dilate. Awareness intensifies. Sight sharpens. Impulses quicken and the perception of pain diminishes.
When the fight or flight system is activated, we tend to perceive everything in our environment as a possible threat to our survival. By its very nature, the fight or flight system bypasses our rational mind, where our more well thought out beliefs exist, and moves us into “attack” mode.
Sources: Keele University and The Body and Soul Connection
Written by Sy Kraft