Paracetamol reduces a person's ability to empathize

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A popular painkiller has an unusual psychological effect.

Paracetamol is one of the most popular painkillers in the world. It is quite cheap, effective and available without a prescription, which is why its success on the market was due to this. In addition, paracetamol is considered quite safe for health. However, a new study shows that this painkiller can have an unusual effect on a person's psychological state.

This effect was discovered by specialists from Ohio University during scientific work. It turned out that taking paracetamol reduces the ability to empathize. 114 people took part in the experiment of American scientists. Half of the people were given 1,000 mg of paracetamol, and the other half – a placebo. Moreover, neither the researchers nor the participants in the experiment knew who exactly received paracetamol and who received a placebo.

An hour later, people were asked to read short excerpts from stories about people who had some positive or inspiring experience. At this time, the scientists checked how positively the participants in the experiment perceived the events described in the excerpts and how much they empathized with the heroes of the stories.

It turned out that those people who got paracetamol had a reduced ability to empathize. They understood that the passage was dedicated to a positive event, but did not empathize with the positive moments in the life of the hero of the work.

Interestingly, similar experiments were conducted before, but there the participants were required to show compassion for people who were in some difficult situation. It turned out that paracetamol not only dulled the pain of the person who took it, but also made this person react calmly to the pain of other people, without feeling much compassion.