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Can Tylenol help ease anxiety?
Compiled by Mike Damante | April 17, 2013
Photo By Paul Sakuma
** CORRECTS TO REMOVE REFERENCE TO NYQUIL ** Tylenol Extra Strenth is shown in a medicine cabinet at a home in Palo Alto, Calif., Tuesday, June 30, 2009. In a series of votes Tuesday, a Food and Drug Administration panel endorsed lowering the maximum dose of over-the-counter acetaminophen _ the key ingredient in Tylenol, Excedrin and other medications. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Frequent use of Tylenol or Motrin can be harmful, according to the You Docs.
Tylenol is known for relieving pain, but now some believe that it can reduce anxiety associated with "thoughts of existential uncertainty and death" according to this study.
Researchers at the University of British Columbia conducted a double-blind study. Several groups were given either Tylenol-brand acetaminophen or a placebo.
Members of the Tylenol groups said they felt less upset following conversations about death and other existential topics.
"Pain extends beyond tissue damage and hurt feelings, and includes the distress and existential angst we feel when we're uncertain or have just experienced something surreal" said lead researcher Daniel Randles in a news release. "Regardless of the kind of pain, taking Tylenol seems to inhibit the brain signal that says something is wrong."
Researchers hope the studies may have implications for clinical interventions.