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Paracetamol Can Seriously Affect Your Emotions, Study Warns

Paracetamol is one of the most commonly used over-the-counter drugs, found in hundreds of medicines, and commonly prescribed long-term on the NHS for chronic pain.

But it could be having serious effects on your emotions, scientists have warned.

The drug seems to ‘dampen down’ people’s feelings - in particular, people’s ability to feel empathy for the suffering of others.

Researchers at Ohio State University gave volunteers the drug, then measured their responses to being told about other people’s suffering.

‘These findings suggest other people’s pain doesn’t seem as big of a deal to you when you’ve taken acetaminophen,’ said study co-author Dominik Mischkowski of Ohio State University.

‘Acetaminophen (paracetamol) can reduce empathy as well as serve as a painkiller.’

Last year, a study found that the drug also seemed to rob users of feelings of pleasure, as well as emotional pain.

Lead author Geoffrey Durso said, ‘Most people probably aren’t aware of how their emotions may be impacted when they take paracetamol.

‘Rather than just being a pain reliever, acetaminophen can be seen as an all-purpose emotion reliever.