想念所爱之人可缓解疼痛

老迷

The mere thought of loved ones can help reduce pain, a new study suggests.
This underscores the importance of social relationships and staying socially connected, according to the study conducted by researchers at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA).
In the study, the researchers asked 25 women whether simply looking at a photograph of their loved ones can reduce pain.
The participants 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."
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 changes our notion of how social support influences people," Eisenberger said. "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."
"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 added.
The researchers advised that the next time people are going through a stressful or painful experience, if they cannot bring a loved one with them, a photo may do.
The study appears in the November 2009 issue of the journal Psychological Science.


研究显示想念所爱之人可缓解疼痛
当你在遭遇疼痛折磨时，你不妨多想想所爱之人，这样可以帮助你缓解疼痛——这是美国加利福尼亚大学洛杉矶分校的心理学家的最新发现。
研究人员在11月刊的英国《心理学》杂志上报告说，他们选择了25名成年女子作为研究对象，这些女子都有男性恋人，双方关系很好，而且相爱的时间至少持续了6个月以上。
研究人员首先使这些女子的手臂经受同等程度的烧灼刺激，然后拿出3张不同的照片——恋人、椅子和陌生人的照片让她们看。结果发现，当这些女子看到恋人的照片时，她们手臂的疼痛感明显小于当她们看到另外两张照片时的疼痛感。
研究人员通过几项相关试验得出结论，当压力或疾病使你感到痛苦时，而此时你的恋人又不在身边，不妨多想想所爱之人，如看看他或她的照片，这样可以起到减轻疼痛的作用。