No need to get a bar of soap after every round of expletives for a mouth-cleanse. Research suggests swearing might actually help reduce the amount of perceived pain during traumatic situationsSwearing As a Response to Pain. Stephens, R., Atkins, J., Kingston, A. School of Psychology, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire, UK. NeuroReport 2009 August; 20 (12): 1056-1060..
Illustration by Elaine Liu
JUST SWEAR BY IT — THE NEED-TO-KNOW
So what gives swearing this pain-reducing effect? It’s possible swearing can be distracting enough to make people forget they were even afraid of being hurtSwearing As a Response to Pain. Stephens, R., Atkins, J., Kingston, A. School of Psychology, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire, UK. NeuroReport 2009 August; 20 (12): 1056-1060.. Interestingly, this effect doesn’t seem to come from yelling out any old thing. Another recent study found that the nervous system reacted more strongly to swear words than to euphemisms or neutral wordsSwearing, euphemisms, and linguistic relativity. Bowers, J.S., Pleydell-Pearce, C.W. Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol. PLoS One. 2011;6(7):e22341..
Previously considered simply a coping mechanism, recent research suggests a possible connection between pain reduction and swearingSwearing As a Response to Pain. Stephens, R., Atkins, J., Kingston, A. School of Psychology, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire, UK. NeuroReport 2009 August; 20 (12): 1056-1060.. When experiencing pain, researchers found that the people who were allowed to swear demonstratedan increase in both pain tolerance and heart rateanda decrease in perceived painSwearing As a Response to Pain. Stephens, R., Atkins, J., Kingston, A. School of Psychology, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire, UK. NeuroReport 2009 August; 20 (12): 1056-1060..
So F—— What? — Your Action Plan
Since swearing may play a role in pain reduction, the occasional outburst in response to pain or a particularly frustrating situation could be justified. But don’t put all those expletives in one basket! Over-use may actually desensitize the body to the powerful effects of those pretty little four-letter words, lessening their pain-killing effectsSwearing As a Response to Pain. Stephens, R., Atkins, J., Kingston, A. School of Psychology, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire, UK. NeuroReport 2009 August; 20 (12): 1056-1060.. So keep up the good work, and keep on yelling those f-bombs— but only when it’s truly f’in necessary.
