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Related Experiment Videos

Can anxiety help us tolerate pain?

Mustafa Al Absi1, Paul D Rokke

  • 1Dept. of Psychology, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58105 U.S.A.

Pain
|July 1, 1991
PubMed
Summary

Anxiety related to pain intensifies the pain experience. However, anxiety unrelated to pain can actually decrease pain perception, challenging the idea that anxiety always worsens pain.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Pain Perception
  • Anxiety Research

Background:

  • The relationship between anxiety and pain is complex.
  • Previous research often assumes anxiety universally exacerbates pain.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how anxiety relevant versus irrelevant to pain influences pain experience.
  • To test the hypothesis that relevant anxiety heightens pain, while irrelevant anxiety reduces it.

Main Methods:

  • Female participants received anxiety-provoking information (high/low) about a cold pressor task (relevant) or a shock (irrelevant).
  • Pain perception was measured during a cold pressor task.

Main Results:

  • High anxiety about the cold pressor task led to the highest reported pain.
  • High anxiety about the shock task resulted in the least reported pain.
  • Irrelevant anxiety significantly reduced pain compared to relevant anxiety.

Conclusions:

  • The impact of anxiety on pain is not unidirectional.
  • Anxiety's relevance to the pain source is a critical factor in modulating pain perception.

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