The Effects Of Acetaminophen On Personality

A study confirmed the effects of paracetamol on the personality of patients who use this drug. These are unexpected effects that, until then, were unknown. Specifically, acetaminophen can cause a decrease in positive empathy.

This medication, also called acetaminophen, relieves mild or moderate pain and feverish conditions. Therefore, it is widely used for its antipyretic and analgesic properties. 

Like other medications, acetaminophen can cause a number of unwanted side effects that can be expected when starting treatment. However, until now, there were only reports of hepatotoxic side effects when it was consumed in high doses.

Studies that confirm the effects of acetaminophen on personality

Until now, acetaminophen has been found to be helpful in controlling physical and mental pain. Recent research from Ohio State University (United States) has taken it a step further.

In a new study, researchers have discovered a new side effect that was previously unknown: acetaminophen can reduce positive emotions.

Two studies were carried out with students from the same university.

first study

The first of them included 82 participants. Half of them took an acute dose of 1 gram of acetaminophen and the other half took a placebo. After approximately 1 hour, they were given a series of photographs selected to elicit emotional responses. There were three types of photographs:

• Very unpleasant : malnourished children, for example.
• Neutral photos : without a clear emotional component.

• Nice images.

After viewing each photo, they had to rate them on a like/dislike scale, with values ​​from -5 to 5 in each photo, and then measure their emotional response on a scale of 0 to 10 As a result, participants taking the 1-gram dose of acetaminophen rated the photographs as less extreme than those taking the placebo. So did your emotions.

Second study on the effects of acetaminophen

After the above results, the researchers did a second study in which they presented the same photos to 85 people. They were asked to make the same assessment judgments and emotional reactions as in the previous study. However, in this second study one more component was added to confirm that acetaminophen only affects emotions, not judgments in general.

For this, the participants were asked to evaluate, in addition to the previous tests, how much blue they saw in each photo. Again, individuals who took acetaminophen – compared to placebo – had different ratings and emotional reactions. In both negative and positive photos, they were practically neutral in their expressions.

However, judgments about blue content were similar regardless of whether participants took study drug or not. The results suggest that acetaminophen affects our emotional assessments but has no effect on our overall judgments.

Conclusion

At the moment, researchers do not know whether other pain relievers, such as ibuprofen and aspirin, have the same effect, although this question is being planned for future studies.

Paracetamol, unlike many other pain relievers, is not a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). That means it doesn’t control inflammation in the body. However, it is not known whether this fact has any relevance to the possible emotional effects of the medications.

In this study, acetaminophen may have taken advantage of the sensitivity that causes some people to react differently to positive and negative life events, confirming the effects on personality. In any case, further research must be conducted to confirm or rule out these effects.

As we have always indicated, the doctor must always be consulted, because only he can indicate the benefits and contraindications of each drug for each specific case.