Feeling pain?
A new study out of
Glasgow Caledonian University says that you might want to reach for your CD player, because
music is one of the art world's best pain killers.According to
CBC.CA, researcher
Laura Mitchell looked at how people responded to pain when their hands were dipped in icy water, and they were given various distractions, such as math puzzles, visual art or comedy tapes.
But it turns out that music was most effective in keeping people's minds off the pain.
"Favourite music has come out consistently, even to an extent that's
really surprised me in designing these studies, as being extremely
effective in how people can tolerate the pain and in actually reducing
how much pain they feel," Mitchell told host
Jian Ghomeshi on
Q.
Mitchell went on to say that
people who were listening to their favourite music could keep their hands in the water for twice as long. And while you'd think the songs would need to be relaxing, Mitchell says the style of music doesn't seem to make a difference.
"I've done this now with about … 400 people and there doesn't seem
to be anything in common between the pieces that they bring," Mitchell
said. "I've had Smashing Pumpkins to Kylie Minogue to Destiny's Child
right through pop, old-fashioned rock right to techno-dance music that
most people would find actually quite painful themselves."
"It's the distraction of music that you love and you have a
relationship with. And you're so emotionally tied to it, you're so
emotionally engaged, that it can actually take the pain away."
Mitchell's study was published in the January issue of the American Psychological Association journal Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts.
