Comment by mabbo

4 years ago

Acetaminophen (paracetamol) is also associated with reductions in 'social pain'.[0]

> Thus, acetaminophen reduces behavioral and neural responses associated with the pain of social rejection, demonstrating substantial overlap between social and physical pain.

It's a fascinating idea that social pain and physical pain are so strongly related. That depression can be viewed as a form of chronic pain, like a knee that still hurts long after the injury has healed.

And perhaps then positive empathy has something to do with literally feeling the social pain of others- blunt your ability to feel social pain and you aren't as affected by it.

[0]https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/095679761037474...

Alcohol too. And both tough on the liver, mere coincidence I suppose.

That’s been known for a long time, possibly centuries.

morphine was used to treat depression as late as last century, and probably remains a common folk remedy even today.

  • Morphine has more effects than just killing pain, however. It also provides a euphoric feeling. It's more interesting if a drug that was until now only known for removing physical pain can also provide relief for social pain.

    • It only does for a brief honeymoon phase. Then it's mostly a pain killer (chronic pain sufferer.)

  • Well yes, there’s definitely a reason there are problems with opiate addictions.

    A differentiation between legal and illegal drugs is the legal ones poison you before they make you feel particularly amazing, the illegal ones poison you after. Take way too much acetaminophen and you get liver failure before you feel euphoria.

    There are arguments to be made that many illegal drugs are safer at effective doses but have risks of abuse not present in the drugs that poison you before abuse is fun.

Aren't emotions just thoughts with a linked physical sensation?

Why is it so fascinating?

  • What? Emotion doesn't have physical sensation, unless you mean "heart pumping strongly when afraid".

    • @WaxedChewbacca re:meditation, if your advertisement for meditation is that it will make me feel physical pain when I experience emotions, then that's a great motivation to never ever try to meditate ever. It's also almost completely the opposite of anything I've ever read about meditation. Isn't the whole point to disconnect from emotion and suffering?

      1 reply →

    • Most people experience emotional body sensations - “butterflies in my stomach,” “a weight on my chest,” “steam coming out of my ears” etc.

    • Don’t people with facial paralysis say that their feelings of emotions are, not functioning at full capacity, due to inability to express them outwardly?

      Or, something like that?

      1 reply →

    • Really curious to learn how you perceive emotions. Maybe I'm reading into this too much, but this feels like the start of discussing an aphantasia analog.

      3 replies →

  • Just?

    • I didn’t mean to downplay the intensity and effect of emotion.

      I found it strange that others don’t acknowledge emotions for what they are at a basic level and instead talk about them like they are some supernatural perception.