Swearing aloud can aid in bearing pain – so are the research results obtained by psychologist Dr Richard Stephens at Keele University in Great Britain, BBC reports. As a part of experiment, volunteers were requested to keep a hand submerged into iced water as long as possible.
Those who occasionally repeated one swear word during the procedure endured pain 75% longer than the civil-tongued participants. “64 volunteers who did not swear managed to keep a hand submerged into iced water for 1 minute 15 seconds compared to around 2 minutes achieved by the swearing volunteers,” says Dr Stephens, who believes swearing emotionally triggers a “fight-or-flight” response in the body and increases production of adrenaline and endorphin that are known for the pain killing effect.
By the way, Dr Stephens got the idea for this experiment on swearing effect when he hurt his thumb with a hammer while building a barn.
Source of the image: flickr.com/photos/piotramigo.
