Medications Alter Emotions

Over-the-counter Medications Minimize Emotional Distress in Women

Medications are taken for illnesses, disorders, weight loss, nutritional deficiencies, stress, lack of sleep and anxiety. Each medication comes with its own set of side effects that can affect an individual in various ways. Latest studies put forth the fact that, over-the-counter medications prescribed for pain relief might influence an individual’s response to emotions and affect information processing.
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The study showed that such medications might influence:

1. The reaction of an individual to emotionally painful experiences. Two groups of women were subjected to placebo and over-the-counter pain medications. The study found that women subjected to meds such as ibuprofen reported less emotional suffering compared to those who were given placebos (a substance/treatment with no active effect simply given to deceive the patient into thinking that it is an active treatment). Men reacted in a totally opposite way and were emotionally aggravated on receiving the ibuprofen medication.
2. A person’s ability to empathize with the pain of others. In comparison to those individuals who took placebos, patients who took acetaminophen showed decreased emotional distress while reading or hearing about another person’s pain (physical or emotional).
3. The way in which an individual processes information. When individuals who took placebos and acetaminophen were compared, patients who took over-the-counter medication made more errors comparatively in responding to instructions. For example, these individuals made more errors of omission in a game when they were asked to perform/not perform some task.
4. An individual’s response to emotional objects. Individuals who took acetaminophen used less displeasing/more subtle words while rating pleasant and unpleasant photographs compared to those who took placebos.
5. Attachment to a materialistic object was lesser in individuals who took over-the-counter pills than in those who took placebos. These individuals offered their objects at a lesser price comparatively.

These findings might alarm consumers as they feel that medications affect physical pain only and they would have not dreamt of its psychological effects. On the positive note, these medications might help people deal with their emotions in a more stabilized way and experience less pain. On the negative note, it might be disadvantageous to patients who take it in combination with other medicines, who are depressed or feel less pleasure. Also, certain medications are falsified and substandard leading to a series of complications as explained at www.firsteatright.com. 

Physical pain is experienced at the site of injury, but registration of the pain is in the brain. The same holds good in the case of emotional distress too. While we say that I am heartbroken, the message is actually from the brain. We need to be cautious while taking any medication and ensure to never take one without doctor’s recommendation.