Popular painkillers like ibuprofen and acetaminophen reduce people's empathy, dull their emotions and change how people process information. Acetaminophen is an ingredient in over 600 different medications, including being the main constituent of Tylenol.
Apparently, the brain's physical reaction to these types of pain responds in the same way to over-the-counter painkillers as the physical reaction underlying headaches or sore joints and muscle
The answer to your question is "Yes". Please see the following PDF attachment.
Hi Ana, that is a very interesting question. This is something that is difficult to investigate in humans, but there is also a strong literature on the role of cytokines in social stress in animal models. Emotional pain is similar to social stress, and it is likely that painkillers that modify cytokine levels could mediate the perception of emotional pain.
Any analgesic has some action on "emotional pain". Pain, between others, is an emotional experience. Hence, any drug that has some effect on pain (both positive or negative) affects emotions.
Hi Ana
Maybe this posts could answer you question
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-superhuman-mind/201304/do-you-suffer-emotional-pain-or-anxiety-pop-tylenol
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/apr/14/paracetamol-may-dull-emotions-as-well-as-physical-pain-new-study-shows
The answer to your question is "Yes". Please see the following PDF attachment.
Emotions such as frustration, sadness, uneasiness etc may be the side effect of some medicine, so in that sense medicine (painkillers) control our emotions sometimes.
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