Morgan BellDread is worse than pain
May 16th 2006 07:11
The stress caused by waiting for something bad to happen may be just as bad - if not worse - than the event itself, according to psychologist Gregory Berns of the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, USA.
"Most people don't like waiting for an unpleasant outcome, and want to get it over with as soon as possible," he said on a EurekAlert report. "The only explanation for this is that the dread of having something hanging over your head is worse than the thing that you are dreading."
The brains of 32 volunteers were studied as they were administered with low voltage shocks at varying time intervals. Participants were informed of the intensity and the waiting time until the next shock over a series of 96 shocks. They were then given the option of having a higher voltage shock sooner, or to wait for the next shock.
Most participants chose to receive more pain to get the trial over with sooner. In fact, 28% of the participants displayed so extreme a preference for this option that Dr Berns terms them “extreme dreaders”.
Brain scans showed that extreme dreaders had significantly more activity in the areas of the brain that process pain and attention.
"The key factor seems to be that extreme dreaders devoted more attention toward the part of their body that was about to be shocked. This is important because it means that dread is not quite the same as fear or anxiety,” said Dr Berns, noting that distraction may play a vital role in mitigating the feeling of dread.
"Most people don't like waiting for an unpleasant outcome, and want to get it over with as soon as possible," he said on a EurekAlert report. "The only explanation for this is that the dread of having something hanging over your head is worse than the thing that you are dreading."
The brains of 32 volunteers were studied as they were administered with low voltage shocks at varying time intervals. Participants were informed of the intensity and the waiting time until the next shock over a series of 96 shocks. They were then given the option of having a higher voltage shock sooner, or to wait for the next shock.
Most participants chose to receive more pain to get the trial over with sooner. In fact, 28% of the participants displayed so extreme a preference for this option that Dr Berns terms them “extreme dreaders”.
Brain scans showed that extreme dreaders had significantly more activity in the areas of the brain that process pain and attention.
"The key factor seems to be that extreme dreaders devoted more attention toward the part of their body that was about to be shocked. This is important because it means that dread is not quite the same as fear or anxiety,” said Dr Berns, noting that distraction may play a vital role in mitigating the feeling of dread.
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