A new study from the University of British Colombia shows how an over-the-counter pain relief drug, Tylenol, can help overcome anxiety developed on thinking about death, reports Medical News Today.
Researchers have learnt that acetaminophen, chief ingredient in Tylenol, which is known to ease headaches, can also be useful in reducing the pain of existential suffering, says the report. Several studies have shown a link between physical and social pain as they activate the same regions of the brain, which responds to unpleasantness. MRI scans have shown that acetaminophen reduces the pain by controlling those regions of the brain which respond to unpleasantness.
For this study, researchers in Steve Heine's lab at the University of British Columbia developed a theory to see if acetaminophen could also reduce the unpleasant feeling, which comes on the thought of death.
"Pain extends beyond tissue damage and hurt feelings, and includes the distress and existential angst we feel when we're uncertain or have just experienced something surreal," Daniel Randles from the University of British Columbia, said. "Regardless of the kind of pain, taking Tylenol seems to inhibit the brain signal that says something is wrong."
Randles and his colleagues conducted two experiments to prove their theory. Participants were asked to take either acetaminophen or a placebo while carrying out the given tasks, which were believed to cause anxiety.
Participants were asked to write a few paragraphs about death and in a second experiment they were shown a clip from David Lynch's 2002 film "Rabbits."
In both experiments, participants who took acetaminophen showed less feeling of anxiety than those who took a placebo. Randles said that although the study has given a fascinating outcome, but it is not advised to take Tylenol when feeling low. "The results for us were fairly robust, but I wouldn't recommend that people take Tylenol when they are feeling down," he said. "We'd like to see other labs replicate our effort."
It has also been shown in previous studies that overdose with Tylenol may lead to liver damage. Hence, precaution is advised.
The findings of the study are published in the Association for Psychological Science journal Psychological Science.
