一份调查研究发现，（与疼痛相关的）语言和心理治疗不仅不能帮助人们减轻痛苦，反而会增强身体疼痛的强度。

 

Warnings such as "this may hurt a bit" or "you might feel a little pain" can be counterproductive and actually compound feelings of discomfort, it is believed.

研究发现，类似“这可能会有点儿疼”、“你可能会觉得有些痛”之类的提示可能会起到适得其反的效果，使人们感到更加不安。

 

The study discovered that certain pain-associated words such as "tormenting" or "gruelling" stimulate the pain area of the brain--even when no pain is actually administered.

研究人员发现，人们听到一些与疼痛相关的词汇（例如“痛苦的”、“折磨人的”）时，脑部与痛感相关的区域会被激活——即便这些痛感并非实际存在也会让人产生疼痛感。

 

Talking to your doctor about your pain might therefore be self-defeating claims the researchers at Jena University in Germany as it stimulates a part of the brain known as the "pain matrix".

德国耶拿大学的研究人员称，向医生描述你的疼痛感同样会弄巧成拙--因为这会激活脑部被称作“痛感矩阵”的区域。

 

The researchers, led by Professor Thomas Weiss, a psychologist, found both adults and children react with foreboding and experience a greater intensity of pain because the words trigger a reaction in the area of the brain associated with pain.

由心理学教授Thomas Weiss带领的研究团队发现，成人和儿童在听到与疼痛相关的词汇后都会产生预感，甚至感到更强烈的疼痛感。产生这种现象的原因就是这些词汇激活了脑部处理痛感的相关区域。

 

But the response may be a survival instinct in which humans learn to avoid pain in the future, they argue.

但是，他们也表示，这种反应将来也可能成为人们学习避免疼痛的一种生存本能。

 

Prof Weiss said: "After such an experience it is enough to simply imagine a needle at the next vaccination appointment to activate our pain memory. "

Prof Weiss说：“有此经历后，我们就能轻松想象出下次打疫苗的情景，激活关于疼痛的记忆。”

 

"Even verbal stimuli lead to reactions in certain areas of the brain. "

“即使是口头上的刺激也能造成脑部与疼痛感相关区域的反应。”

 

The professor found as soon as we hear words like "tormenting", "gruelling" or "plaguing", the exact areas in the brain that deal with pain are activated.

教授还发现，只要我们听到类似“痛苦的”、“折磨人的”、“苦恼的”的词汇，大脑中的这个相关区域就立刻被激活。

 

The team from the department of Biological and Clinical Psychology used magnetic resonance tomography to investigate how individuals processed words associated with experiencing pain.

这支研究团队来自生物和临床心理学学院。他们用核磁共振成像仪观察人们听到与疼痛相关的词汇时的脑部反应。

 

In order to prevent reactions based on a plain negative affect the subjects were also confronted with words with negative connotations like "terrifying", "horrible" or "disgusting" besides the proper pain words.

除了上述疼痛相关词汇，为避免一般负面词汇所造成的反应，研究人员还为受测试者们挑选了“骇人的”、“可怕的”、“厌恶的”等负面词汇。

 

However merely negative words such as "horrible" and "disgusting" did not have the same effect.

但是，其他如“可怕的”、“厌恶的”等负面词汇并没有产生相同的效果。

 

And because patients suffering chronic pain are often asked to describe it, this could actually make it worse, scientists claim.

科学家称，经受慢性病折磨的患者，经常要描述他们的痛感和症状，而这种方式有可能会加重他们的痛感。