Tylenol Ingredient Reduces Anxiety and Stress

Open bottles of Extra Strength Tylenol and Extra Strength Tylenol PM, pain relievers with the active ingredient acetaminophen/paracetamol. Tylenol PM (the white-and-blue tablets) also contains diphenhydramine, a sleep aid. These drugs were made by McNeil-PPC, Inc. The expiration date for the Tylenol is April 2007; the expiration date for the Tylenol PM is April 2005. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A recenty study out of the University of British Columbia has found that acetaminophen can reduce anxiety

One of the most ubiquitous over-the-counter medicines is Tylenol, used for general relief of pain and headaches. What differentiates Tylenol from other options, like Advil or ibuprofen, is the ingredient acetaminophen. And while acetaminophen provides a good fix for a stubbed toe, it may also offer psychological relief for feelings of anxiety and social rejection.

The Dangers of Acetaminophen Overdose

 

Pain and Stress Similar in the Brain

Researchers from the University of British Columbia knew that acetaminophen could dull reactions to physical pain and theorized that it could also neutralize anxiety cues from the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), the part of the brain that responds to social and physical pain.

“Physical pain and social rejection share a neural process and subject component that are experienced as distress,” the study authors wrote. As it turns out, acetaminophen, even in a nonprescription dose, dulls feelings of anxiety and psychological responses to questions about life and death.

Their work was recently published in Psychological Science, and while these findings won't result in an acetaminophen-based anti-anxiety medication any time soon, they've uncovered yet another use for Tylenol.

What Exactly is Anxiety?

The Anxiety of David Lynch?

The researchers chose unsettling questions about death and the surrealist works of filmmaker David Lynch (Twin Peaks, Mulholland Dr., etc.) to provide participants with a controlled, but particularly unsettling study experience. Acetaminophen, it turns out, was effective in dulling emotional reactions to what Lynch had in store in his short-film Rabbits.

More than 300 student participants were recruited and offered either $15 or course credit for their time. In two different studies, participants were either given 1,000 mg of Tylenol-brand acetaminophen or a placebo, both packed in gel capsules. Because acetaminophen is hard to detect if a user isn’t actively experiencing physical pain, study subjects were unaware of which they took.

In the first study, 121 participants were asked to write two paragraphs about their feelings on death and then to respond to a hypothetical situation in which they judged the bail amount set for a prostitute. In the second study, 207 participants watched either a David Lynch movie—typically disturbing—or a benign video clip and then judged the punishment handed down for local rioters.

Both studies required participants to consider their mortality. And the Tylenol? It was effective in dulling the emotional reactions of participants who had to consider their mortality or watch a Lynch film, indicating that an OTC dose of acetaminophen is effective in limiting dACC reaction and feelings of anxiety.

“Participants in the mortality-salience condition who had taken acetaminophen responded in ways similar to those who had not contem­plated their mortality. In the second study, this pattern of findings was replicated using a surreal video clip,” the study authors concluded.

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