Simple Mind Trick Fails to Reduce Pain in Clinical Test
Researchers tested whether talking to yourself in the third person could ease physical pain—a strategy that showed promise in earlier studies. The large experiment found no meaningful benefit, suggesting pain management approaches may need to look beyond this psychological technique.
Originaltitel: Pain From a Distance: Can Third-Person Self-Talk Mitigate Pain Sensitivity and Pain Related Distress During Experimentally Induced Pain?
<p>Pain is self-immersive, leading to a narrow, egocentric focus on the self in the here and now. Preliminary evidence suggests that distancing oneself from the pain can reduce experimentally induced pain. The primary aim of this experimental study was to examine whether a hitherto unexplored, simple self-distancing strategy – “third-person self-talk” – has an analgesic effect on physiological and psychological pain variables. Participants (N = 292) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions (third-person self-talk, first-person self-talk, and two control conditions). Pain was induced with a cold pressor apparatus and pain tolerance, pain intensity, negative affect and blood pressure were measured for each group. While in pain, participants engaged in strategic self-talk aided by cue-cards. Data were analyzed with univariate planned comparisons. Few significant differences emerged for the third-person self-talk versus the other conditions. It is concluded that third-person self-talk does not seem to have a meaningful effect on physiological and psychological pain variables, although a small effect size could not be ruled out. Practical implications are discussed.</p>