Swearing Can Help Reduce Stress

According to a study published in America's Journal of Pain, swearing can help you cope with pain on a short-term level. However, if you swear on a regular basis it's less effect. Dr. Richard Stephens, from the Keele University's School of Psychology, is unsure if certain curse words are more effect than others.

A study of 71 students at  a British University were asked to carry out a cold-water challenge while repeating a swear word, or a non-swear word. The students were asked to put their hand in a bucket of room temperature water for 3 minutes, and then plunge the same hand in a bucket of 41 degree water for as long as they could. The study found that the students who repeated a curse word increased their heart rate and pain tolerance.

The scientists working on the study discovered that swearing releases an emotional response which leads to what is best known as "stress induced alangesia."

In the end, Dr. Stephens discovered that people who don't swear very much in daily life were able to keep their hand in the cold water twice as long while swearing, as compared to when they don't swear.

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