Swearing, good for your health?! Count us in. Just saying the f-bomb puts us in a relaxed state (respectively).
To put it plain, we don’t just use foul language in all of our conversations. It’s more of a stress-relief kind of thing, a way to release aggravation or excitement through a balanced and appropriate response.
So naturally, writing this piece made us super happy. If swearing can be good for your health, shouldn’t everyone else know? The answer to that question, if you’re wondering, should be “yes.”
We’ll stop bragging now. Just keep reading to check out some cool facts about swearing and your health.
Activate Multiple Areas of Your Brain
Did you know that swear words can actually ignite areas of your brain that no other words can reach? So much so that some studies have pointed towards this claim: Swearing can help stroke victim’s re-learn language.
That sounds pretty far out, but it’s very true. That’s because swearing can engage the area of the brain that’s emotional and the area of the brain that’s language-oriented. A strong example is this: A stroke patient can’t state that they’re angry or happy, but they can easily express how they feel through swearing.
Relieve Pain
Curse words can’t exactly work like Tylenol, Aleve, and Motrin, but speaking profanities can produce some pain relief. In some experiments like the one talked about here, participants were asked to keep their hands in a bowl of freezing water for as long as possible. An automatic swear response was proven to increase pain tolerance, lowering the perception of pain.
Similar instances like pinching your finger in a car door or getting your hand squeezed tightly also apply.
Why does pain tolerance automatically increase? Because cussing produces a stress response, triggering an adrenaline release, and prepping the body for fight of light. Neat, in’t?
Points Toward an Honest Person
We know what you’re thinking, “What does honesty have to do with your health?” Well, if you think about it, a lot. If you’re honest, you have healthy relationships with people around you. If you’re honest, you have a clear conscience and no provoked stress. If you’re honest, you don’t have to overthink and worry about keeping up with a lie.
We tell you that to tell you this: Science has found a way to link profanity with honesty. Studies have proven that men and women who curse more also have higher levels of integrity.
How can that be exemplified? A person who swears is honestly expressing how they feel through their choice of words. After all, a swear doesn’t show someone ‘holding back’ their feelings. That’s enough to convince us!
Promote Healthy Coping Mechanisms
Mental health is crucial to maintaining an overall healthy being. Coping mechanisms link back to a positive wellbeing. That’s why we wanted to point out this little factoid: Swearing can help you cope in a more natural, sufficient, and efficient way than other strategies can. And, it’s free!
Examples of situations you need to learn to cope with include disappointment, circumstances you have little to no control over, unfair treatment, acute physical pain, and so on. If any of these examples come up on a day-to-day basis, fire off a swear or two. Though it won’t resolve the issue at hand providing a magical solution, it will release necessary, difficult emotions. So much so that you might even gain a little patience to find a solution.
Avoid Physical Confrontation and Fights
Getting into a fight is not good for your health. If your body is beat up and bruised, that means it’s working overtime to heal. Plus, depending on how bad the confrontation is will depend on the magnitude of injury. Broken bones, strained muscles, split skin, etc.
Instead of throwing a few punches, swear it out. It’s beneficial to your health because you can easily ‘get back’ at a person or situation with your own traditional voice. No harm done.
Just be aware that you may hurt someone’s feelings. Though it’s better than physical injury in some aspects, it can still be harmful to the psyche. Beware.