This just in, from the turbo-weird category:
Could acetaminophen (tylenol) ease social pain? – “[They] investigated this connection through two experiments. In the first experiment, 62 volunteers took [1 gram] daily of either acetaminophen or a placebo. Each evening, participants reported how much they experienced social pain using a ‘Hurt Feelings Scale’ — a measurement widely accepted by psychologists as a valid measure of social pain. Hurt feelings and social pain decreased over time in those taking acetaminophen, while no change was observed in the placebo group. [...] In the second experiment, 25 healthy volunteers took [2 grams] daily of either [tylenol] or a placebo. After three weeks of taking the pills, subjects participated in a computer game rigged to create feelings of social rejection. fMRI [brain scans] employed during the game revealed that acetaminophen reduced neural responses to social rejection in brain regions associated with the distress of social pain and the affective component of physical pain (the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and anterior insula).”
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Remember, beta blockers reduce stage fright, too. I guess social pain is not so different from physical pain.
Heh… My fear is that the pharmaceutical industry will latch on to stuff like this and start adding all of this stuff to the anti-anxiety/depression regimen. But, I guess, tylenol isn’t as bad as most of the stuff out there… Beta blockers, though?