May 25, 2016.
A double-blind study reveals that taking paracetamol not only reduces the perception of one’s own pain, but also that of others.
Paracetamol decreases empathy for others
To reach this conclusion, researchers made a group of people take paracetamol, and a placebo to others, without obviously nobody knowing what he had actually swallowed. Next, both groups were subjected to situations in which other people were bullied, humiliated, and even beaten (in simulation), and expressed this suffering.
Surprise! the group who took paracetamol expressed less compassion and developed less empathy than the test group who took a placebo!
A quarter of Americans take paracetamol every week
The problem is, paracetamol is terribly commonplace. In the United States, for example, a quarter of the population takes it at least once a week! Gold, if paracetamol relieves minor ailments of everyday life, for those who take it, it also modifies their social behavior! Not only are they less receptive to the distress and pain of others, as this study shows, while empathy is a pillar of life in society. But above all, it modifies the perception that one can have of the suffering, even of the pain for which one would be responsible oneself. In other words, a boss who takes paracetamol to treat his back pain may very well harm his employees without (correctly) realizing it, his perception of what he is doing to others being altered by taking medication. …
To read also: Analgesics: which one to choose?
