The pain reliever acetaminophen has been found to blunt emotions. Ohio State University reported, acetaminophen decreases both pain and pleasure. This is a previously unknown side effect of the pain reliever acetaminophen.
Researchers have observed that people who took acetaminophen reported less powerful emotions when they saw both extremely pleasant and extremely disturbing photos, in comparison to those who instead took placebos. Acetaminophen is the primary ingredient in the over-the-counter pain reliever Tylenol. This drug has been in use for greater than 70 years in the United States. Yet, this is the first time that this particular side effect has been noted.
It has been shown in previous research that acetaminophen works on both physical pain and on psychological pain. Geoffrey Durso, who is a doctoral student in social psychology at The Ohio State University and the lead author of the study, says this study shows the effects of acetaminophen go even further and that it also decreases how much users actually feel positive emotions.
This study has been published in the journal Psychological Science. Acetaminophen is now being seen as offering over-the-counter relief from both pains and pleasures. Acetaminophen has been found to blunt sensitivity to negative and positive stimuli.
In the study participants who took acetaminophen were observed to evaluate unpleasant stimuli less negatively and pleasant stimuli less positively. Participants who took acetaminophen also rated both negative and positive stimuli as being less emotionally arousing. It’s unusual to consider that aside from just being a pain reliever acetaminophen may also be all-purpose emotion reliever, as noted by Durso.
