Shouting swear-words helps cut pain
Letting rip with a string of expletives after hitting your thumb with a hammer could make it hurt less, scientists claim.Researcher say swearing can have a ‘pain-lessening effect’ by triggering not only an emotional response, but a physical one too.
A team from Keele University tested their idea by getting people to see how long they could submerge a hand in a tub of ice water - once while repeating a random word, then again while swearing.
They found that when cursing, people were able to keep their hands submerged in the ice water for a longer period of time.
They also found that after the ice test some people continued swearing "Why the F$%£ did you make me keep my bl*@&$* hand in the %@%&ing water so %@$@ing long?"
While it isn’t clear how or why this link exists, the team believes that the pain-lessening effect occurs because swearing triggers our natural ‘fight-or-flight’ response.
"Swearing has been around for centuries and is an almost universal human linguistic phenomenon" says Dr Richard Stephens
"It taps into emotional brain centres and appears to arise in the right brain, whereas most language production occurs in the left cerebral hemisphere of the brain. Our research shows one potential reason why swearing developed and why it persists."
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Keele University
"Swearing has been around for centuries and is an almost universal human linguistic phenomenon" says Dr Richard Stephens
"It taps into emotional brain centres and appears to arise in the right brain, whereas most language production occurs in the left cerebral hemisphere of the brain. Our research shows one potential reason why swearing developed and why it persists."
LINKS
Keele University
