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TIL that telling someone "this is going to hurt" and "this won't hurt at all" has a physical impact on the brain which actually increases or decreases the pain you feel. (Study by Koyama et al 2005)
Sorry, this post was deleted by the person who originally posted it.
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TL;DR
"This won't hurt at all" = less pain
"This is going to hurt" = more pain
As a kid I was told the needle wasn't going to hurt, believed the doctor and then (what a surprise) it fucking hurt.
Next time? Knew it was coming, wasn't surprised, barely hurt at all.
I'm calling bullshit.
Yeah, man. I feel like patients like being told that something you do might hurt, but you need to do it to figure out what's going on/treat the condition. People generally prefer a heads up if it's going to hurt. Surprise + pain + betrayal > pain + anticipation, most times.
I think this is the reason I mainly expect things like "this will pinch a little" so that you don't expect it to feel like nothing, but don't psych yourself up for something super painful.
I know I for one weigh a random redditor's anecdote over an actual controlled study.
Pain is subjective. Ever heard of a high pain tolerance? Guess what, the only reason high pain tolerance isn't just called "pain tolerance" is because there are people with low pain tolerance.
People feel things differently. The fact that you don't understand that means you're not really in a position to comment.
I think the theory was first floated by the mafia.
As was the man who came up with the theory
You can have a pretty good career as a boxer if during the match you keep screaming, "This is going to hurt! This is also going to hurt!"
Thank you. I have a hard time wading thru the verbiage to figure out what they're saying. In fact, I read the abstract and thought the opposite!
So basically, what is the best thing to say to cause the least pain?
For some reason I expected to opposite.
I was really surprised that as well
It's only true the first time. In subsequent interactions, the patient's brain recalibrates, based on how their earlier experience measured up to your prediction.
Now this is how you do a TIL. Cite the specific study, link directly to the study itself instead of a bullshit article that doesn't even link it, and use a reliable source.
Damn fine work!
Thank you. I read a book and went to the citations at the back.
And I read some of the comments here lol
This won't hurt a bit....its gonna hurt a lot.
Placebo and Nocebo effects CGP Grey did a little thing on it (plus some other stuff)
I'm reading a great book called Cure: a journey into the science of mind over body. (Jo marchant)
It looks into the effects of placebos.
As a man I generally take it as an indicator of how much of a pussy I am allowed to be.
Same with tiredness. Studies have shown that if you just lie to yourself and tell yourself that you had a full night sleep even though you didn't will make you feel less tired.
No effect on the pain, but in adults, it affects a person's reaction greatly, as we can put up with a lot of pain via long, hard experiences in living.