Desensitization of the human race

You may think of over-the-counter painkillers as being relatively harmless. However, intriguing new research is beginning to show that drugs, such as Ibuprofen and paracetamol, may actually be influencing our thoughts and emotions when we take them.

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"In many ways, the reviewed findings are alarming," write the authors of the study. "Consumers assume that when they take an over-the-counter pain medication, it will relieve their physical symptoms, but they do not anticipate broader psychological effects."

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Firstly, the studies show that these pain medications can reduce our sensitivity to emotionally painful experiences or emotionally evocative objects.

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In addition, another experiment found that people who took a dose of paracetamol rated pleasant and unpleasant photographs less extremely than those who had taken a placebo.

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Secondly, pain medications appear to have an effect on our ability to empathise with others. Research has shown that people taking paracetamol were less emotionally distressed when reading about someone's painful physical or emotional experience and also felt less regard for that person, compared to a control group.

  IB Times

Makes sense when you think about the fact that pain is all in your mind.

One experiment, demonstrated that women who took a dose of Ibuprofen reported less hurt feelings from emotionally painful experiences – writing about a time they were betrayed, for example – compared to a control group. Men, on the other hand, reported the opposite effect - experiencing the emotional pain more intensely after taking the drug.

Okay, I'm gonna need an explanation for that.

Thirdly, the drugs may be affecting how our brains process information. People who took paracetamol made more errors in experiments involving a game where participants were asked either to perform, or not perform a task at various times.

A drug is a drug is a drug.

Lastly, and perhaps most interestingly, the drugs caused discomfort when people were faced with selling their possessions.

Gonna need an explanation for that, too.