#125: 🤬 Saying F**K Kills Pain Both Physical & Emotional
The Surprising Hypoalgesic Effects of Swearing
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💬 In this note:
🤬 Saying F**K Kills Pain Both Physical & Emotional
📚 Shift: Silo Book #2
⚡️ Structures Under the Pyramids
🤬 Saying F**K Kills Pain Both Physical & Emotional
After completing an unconventional meditation where I said “F**K it” and “Let that SH*T go” as a mantra over and over, I got curious about how swearing could help release physical and emotional pain.
I’ve definitely shouted D*MNIT when stubbing my toe on the door frame, or feeling so angry I just want to (and have) let loose a F**K YOU.
And then, I felt better.
Why?
I dug into the research, and…
First off, this is an area of research! Believe it or not. (I definitely studied the wrong topic for my PhD)
And second, what I found was both surprising and oddly practical.
The next time you drop something on your foot and instinctively shout an expletive this is actually your brain deploying a scientifically proven pain management strategy.
Research has consistently shown that swearing increases pain tolerance by 33% compared to using neutral language.
That's roughly equivalent to the pain relief you'd get from a moderate dose of morphine.
Mind blown.
How did they figure this out?
Measuring How Swearing Dulls Pain in the Lab
Dr. Richard Stephens and his team at Keele University in 2009 used what's called the "cold pressor test" to measure pain tolerance.
This is a method where participants submerge their hand in ice water (usually around 5°C) for as long as possible.
The researchers chose this task because the cold pressor task elicits pain and discomfort without tissue damage and has been determined to be ethically acceptable for adults and children.
In this experiment, participants were asked to repeat either a swear word or a neutral word while keeping their hand in the freezing water.
They found that when swearing, 73% of participants kept their hand in the ice water longer and on average the swearers held their hand in the water 31 seconds longer.
Stephen’s team also found that heart rates increased while swearing, although this is a known phenomenon.
Swearing, as we know, is inherently emotional in nature and it has been shown to potentially increase physiological arousal, such as heart rate.
But the most interesting finding was that pain perception decreased while swearing.
This wasn't just a one-off thing.
This experiment has been replicated multiple times with consistent results, suggesting that the hypoalgesic (pain-reducing) effect of swearing happens over and over.
Why Does Swearing Reduce Pain?
Scientists have proposed several mechanisms that might explain why swearing helps us handle pain:
1. The Sympathetic Response (Fight or Flight)
This theory suggests that swearing triggers our body's sympathetic nervous system, our "fight or flight" response.
Swearing increases heart rate, releases adrenaline and temporarily reduces pain sensitivity.
Essentially, swearing may act as a mild form of emotional arousal that prepares your body to either fight or run from danger, which includes temporarily dampening pain signals.
2. Emotional Processing
Swear words have a unique emotional quality. They're processed differently in our brains compared to regular language, activating regions associated with emotional processing like the amygdala.
This emotional component might divert attention away from pain.
3. The Distraction Hypothesis
Some researchers suggest that swearing simply distracts us from pain.
The taboo nature of swear words requires additional cognitive processing, potentially pulling away mental resources that would otherwise be available to process pain signals.
4. Self-Confidence and Psychological Flow
Swearing may also enhance self-confidence and create a state of psychological flow that makes it easier to cope with painful stimuli.
You really need to say F**K
Made-up swear words don't have the same effect as the real thing.
A study by Stephens and Robertson in 2020 tested whether made-up swear words like "fouch" and "twizpipe" would have the same effect as traditional swear words like the f-word.
(A note to the researchers…twizpipe…interesting choice…)
The results?
Only the real swear words improved pain tolerance.
The nonsense words had no significant effect.
This suggests there's something special about established swear words, our memories and relationship to those words, that triggers our neurological response to pain.
Swearing Relieves Social and Emotional Pain
Swearing doesn't just help with physical pain.
It helps with social pain too.
This is the emotional distress caused by rejection or exclusion.
Social pain activates many of the same neural pathways as physical pain.
Our brains process social exclusion similarly to how they process physical injury.
That's why we use phrases like "heartbroken" or "hurt feelings."
A 2017 study found that swearing also reduced feelings of social pain.
In this study, participants wrote about times they felt socially rejected or excluded, then engaged in swearing for two minutes.
Those who swore reported significantly less social pain afterward compared to control groups.
Swearing seems to interrupt this pain processing regardless of whether the pain is physical or emotional.
This explains why after an argument or embarrassing situation, cursing might help you process and release those negative emotions.
Swearing in Meditation - Nama-sh*t
While it seems counterintuitive to combine the peacefulness of meditation with taboo language, there's compelling logic behind it.
I’ve tried it, and there definitely is something to it.
Swearing provides a release valve for pent-up emotions, which can be particularly helpful when working through difficult feelings during meditation.
It may also help break through emotional blocks, because the pattern-interrupting nature of swearing can help disrupt the emotional barriers.
Many meditation practitioners report feeling more authentic when allowed to express their full range of emotions, including those typically expressed through swearing.
Swearing may also lead to less rumination and intrusive thoughts afterward.
One meditation teacher explained it to me this way: "Sometimes saying 'f**k this pain' with full awareness is more honest and effective than pretending to peacefully accept something that's genuinely distressing you."
Of course, set and setting matter.
Shouting “F**K” in a silent group meditation might not be appreciated.
But in your private practice, give it a try.
Less is More
Be careful how much you swear to dull pain though.
For those who swear frequently in daily life, the pain-relieving effect is diminished.
Stephens and Umland found that "high-frequency swearers" experienced less pain relief from swearing compared to those who rarely curse.
So if you want to maximize the pain-relieving benefits of swearing, you might want to save those expletives for when you really need them!
It’s cool that something as simple and instinctive as uttering “F**K” can have such a profound physiological effect.
It's a powerful reminder that as humans, language isn't just a communication tool, it's deeply intertwined with our emotional and physical experiences.
I hope it brings you some peace knowing that the next time you stub your toe and you shout “F**K!” it’s just your brain deploying its built-in pain management system.
📚 Book of the Week
Shift - Silo Trilogy #2 by Hugh Howey
Rating: ★★★★★
Shift is Book 2 of the Silo series, and it’s a look into the past.
It’s the story of why the Silos were built.
The ones who created them.
And the ones still living in Silo 1.
It’s twisted.
It’s dark.
It shows to what lengths people will go to save themselves, in an effort to save ‘humanity’.
It’s thrilling and absolutely cannot be skipped.
Book 3 would make absolutely no sense without it.
The AppleTV+ Silo Series hasn’t gotten to this book yet.
So if you’re like me and like to read the book before you watch the show or film.
You’ve got time.
Silo Season 3 is speculated for a mid-2026 release date.
This was a reader recommendation by Taylor! Thanks Taylor!!!
⚡️ Check This Out
Have you seen the viral posts about the Pyramids of Giza these last weeks?
A radar study that's been making waves online claims to have discovered massive spiral structures stretching beneath the ancient pyramids, going down about 648 meters straight into the earth.
According to these reports, researchers found eight vertical cylindrical wells with spiral pathways that eventually merge into two enormous cube-shaped chambers, each measuring about 80 meters on each side.
And all of this supposedly lies more than 2 kilometers below the pyramid's base.
If confirmed, these findings would challenge the conventional understanding that the pyramids were built solely as royal tombs.
They'd hint at a level of underground engineering that would be astonishing even by today's standards.
I'd love to see how mainstream archaeology responds to these claims as more details emerge.
This kind of theory isn't entirely new in conversations about the pyramids.
Inventor Nikola Tesla once speculated that these ancient structures might function as collectors of Earth's natural energy.
Engineer Christopher Dunn expanded on similar ideas in his book The Giza Power Plant, suggesting the Great Pyramid operated as a sophisticated machine capable of converting seismic vibrations into usable energy.
What fascinates me most about discoveries like these (potential or confirmed) is how they remind us that even our most studied ancient monuments may still hold secrets.
The pyramids have stood for thousands of years, there were even ancient Egyptologists in Cleopartra’s day, and the pyramids continue to challenge our understanding of what ancient civilizations could achieve.
Sooo…I have a very very serious question to all of you…could this be a real life Silo???
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Edited by Wright Time Publishing