Can Thinking Of A Loved One Reduce Your Pain?

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Can Thinking Of A Loved One Reduce Your Pain?

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171022.php

" The very thought of you … the mere idea of you " - from the song " The Very

Thought of You " by Ray Noble

Can the mere thought of your loved one reduce your pain?

Yes, according to a new study by UCLA psychologists that underscores the

importance of social relationships and staying socially connected.

The study, which asked whether simply looking at a photograph of your

significant other can reduce pain, involved 25 women, mostly UCLA students, who

had boyfriends with whom they had been in a good relationship for more than six

months.

The women received moderately painful heat stimuli to their forearms while they

went through a number of different conditions. In one set of conditions, they

viewed photographs of their boyfriend, a stranger and a chair.

" When the women were just looking at pictures of their partner, they actually

reported less pain to the heat stimuli than when they were looking at pictures

of an object or pictures of a stranger, " said study co-author Naomi Eisenberger,

assistant professor of psychology and director of UCLA's Social and Affective

Neuroscience Laboratory. " Thus, the mere reminder of one's partner through a

simple photograph was capable of reducing pain. "

" This changes our notion of how social support influences people, " she added.

" Typically, we think that in order for social support to make us feel good, it

has to be the kind of support that is very responsive to our emotional needs.

Here, however, we are seeing that just a photo of one's significant other can

have the same effect. "

In another set of conditions, each woman held the hand of her boyfriend, the

hand of a male stranger and a squeeze ball. The study found that when women were

holding their boyfriends' hands, they reported less physical pain than when they

were holding a stranger's hand or a ball while receiving the same amount of heat

stimulation.

" This study demonstrates how much of an impact our social ties can have on our

experience and fits with other work emphasizing the importance of social support

for physical and mental health, " Eisenberger said.

One practical piece of advice the authors give is that the next time you are

going through a stressful or painful experience, if you cannot bring a loved one

with you, a photo may do.

The study appears in the November 2009 issue of the journal Psychological

Science.

Co-authors are Master, who earned her Ph.D. in psychology from UCLA;

E. , UCLA distinguished professor of psychology; Bruce Naliboff, a

clinical professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the Semel

Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA; Shirinyan, a

postdoctoral scholar at the Semel Institute; and D. Lieberman, UCLA

professor of psychology.