A Broken Heart Really Does Hurt, Scientists Claim

Death Metal writes "Psychologists at the University of California, Los Angeles say the human body has a gene that connects physical pain sensitivity with social pain sensitivity. The findings back the common theory that rejection 'hurts' by showing that a gene regulating the body's most potent painkillers — mu-opioids — is involved in socially painful experiences too."

Comments

isn't this obvious?

[phantomfive]

I've been punched in the face, I've had torn muscles, I've stubbed my toe, I've hit my thumb with a hammer, and nothing has hurt as much as a broken heart. This seemed pretty obvious to me, but I am glad that researchers are paying attention to feelings, and figuring out what is there.

Re:isn't this obvious?

[Jafafa Hots]

Shit... I've been hit by a pickup truck, had a shattered pelvis, fractured skull, internal injuries. Had to learn to walk again. Went through withdrawal from Demerol. Had a total bowel obstruction that required emergency surgery. Had a catheter removed without the little balloon being deflated first.
Broke my arm four times. Had a barium enema (doesn't sound like much but those fuckers HURT)

Those things took from days to months to repair and grow adequate scar tissue.

Broken heart? Well, I think I'm pretty much over it now... and it's only been 25 years. (Well, I'm over when she's not around anyway...)

Re:isn't this obvious?

[Ihmhi]

Irony - A year later I saw her on campus and she wanted to know why I stopped calling. She claimed I had hurt her. As if rejecting me four times didn't hurt. (rolls eyes). A typical, socially-inept, clueless female nerd.

That's not irony, that's an attention whore. Once you stop doting on them they'll come to you and try to get your hopes back up.

Re:isn't this obvious?

[commodore64_love]

>>>>>This study might explain why some women can treat men like toss-away toys, and not care.

>They can't treat men like that, only whiny little pussies.

Really? Well I know just such a woman. She married a guy, then she divorced him because she was flirting with guy #2. Then she married guy #2, but meanwhile she was flirting with guy #3, so divorced guy #2 about five years later. She married guy #3, but was flirting with guy #4, and then divorced guy #3.

Three men. NONE of them were pussies, but she still managed to hurt all three of them with her actions, because she doesn't care about other person's feelings.

Re:isn't this obvious?

[Mister Whirly]

Any man that chooses to be with a woman who is already either married/in a serious relationship when they start up should expect at some point it will happen again, with him getting dumped for the new flame. They may not have been "pussies" but they weren't being smart or didn't want a monogamous relationship. Cheaters aren't going to just up and change their behavior "just because it is you".

Re:isn't this obvious?

[budgenator]

Obviously you've never had a vampyric, somatic narcissistic woman sink her fangs into you. Bedroom skills have nothing to do with what makes them happy. what makes them happy is taking every social, psychological and financial resource you have for themselves, they feed off your pain.

Re:isn't this obvious?

[commodore64_love]

Yep.

Look for the single women, not the divorced or married ones.

Painkillers?

[dunkelfalke]

Does it mean that painkillers like Ibuprofen would help to lessen the pain of being dumped? That is a kind of an acute issue for me right now.

Re:Painkillers?

[value_added]

Pain killers like the kind your brain gives you when you get laid would work better. Seriously, go have some meaningless sex - it WILL help.

Mod parent up. I've had my heart broken a few times, but there's usually one relationship that kills you the most, and it's that one that lingers throughout your life.

At the time, I tried working longer hours, regularly drinking heavily, lots of drugs, socialising with friends, going for long solitary walks ... you name it. Distractions like working longer hours do help (provided you're past the "I'm out of my mind with grief and want to kill myself and take everyone with me" stage, but anonymous sex beats the other methods by a mile.

You'll earn bonus points if your anonymous sex partner is especially pretty; you tend to experience everything with heightened awareness in the first few weeks or months, so chances are high you'll remember your partner's face and body (and possibly her name). Being able to move very far away earns you the Daily Double, just so long as you don't risk losing everything by travelling back in the first few years to wallow in the nostalgia.

When all is done and you've moved on with your life, be sure to watch or listen to some Sam Kinison videos from time to time to keep things in "perspective".

Re:Painkillers?

[girlintraining]

Those are the two things I applied a year ago (and am still applying) to get over a broken heart. I left my country, started travelling and kept travelling, and have shagged lots of different lovely girls along the way. It really works. And I've met some great people.

Oh isn't this typical! Someone says they're hurting because they've lost the one they love and the answer is "Yeah, I'd miss the sex too." A broken heart doesn't come from a lack of nookie you insensitive bastard. It comes from the gut-wrenching experience of having invested months or years into a relationship that suddenly ends. And usually because of that kind of investment, the other relationships in that person's life have suffered neglect to maintain the romantic one. So it's a double-whammy -- not only are they suddenly alone, but everyone they used to know is either gone or distant to boot. It's not just the rejection of a former lover that hurts, its waking up from that and discovering you don't have any friends around you either -- possibly because your ex has them all now!

Sex is not going to fill that hole if you have any kind of heart, okay? Every man seems to think it will and they go on a massive f*ck-fest. It doesn't work. After their 15 seconds of fame is over, they're still lonely. And it's not just men either -- women with low self-esteem do the same thing. That hurt you feel late at night that makes you want to clutch a pillow and imagine someone holding you does not come from a lack of sex. It comes from a lack of love. And for that, there's only one thing to do; Start meeting new people. Not just people you're sexually attracted to (chances are you're too depressed anyway to be objective about this) -- I mean anyone that seems even remotely interesting. Reconnect with the human race. Don't take pills, don't buy a big sack of condoms, and don't hit the frozen dairy aisle -- get up, go outside, and don't come back until you've learned at least one new thing about someone you didn't know before. And find friends that don't say things like this idiot did -- sex is not everything. Any real friend will tell you this.

Re:They've discovered the Emo Gene!

[Drenaran]

What terrifies me is that I could easily see this form of child selection occurring. Remember how vain and cruel those girls from high school were? Well, guess what, those girls become the vain and cruel wives of rich men, placing them squarely in the realm of people who can afford to perform genetic screening on their kids and "weed out" "negative" traits.

Re:Feel No Pain

[girlintraining]

Do The Evolution ;)

You idiot... If you can't feel pain you can't learn. Adversity breeds character, but it also breeds common sense. People who can't feel pain have to be very careful because they won't know they're hurting themselves -- they will happily hold on to a burning-hot sauce pan and have no idea that in the process of making eggs they've just caused 3rd degree burns on their hand.

Besides, if you ever want to see the kind of damage not being able to feel pain can do -- go visit the hospital and head up to the department labeled "Chemical Dependency". You'll have a hundred new reasons to treasure your pain receptors after that...