Spouses really are a pain How's this for funny: A recent study by German psychologists suggests that simply having a spouse in the same room can actually make pain worse! I'm not even kidding here… The study focused on patients with back pain. The suffering subjects were divided into two groups: One whose spouses doted on them with massages, medicine, and other attention-and another group in which spouses downplayed their mates' condition, distracted them with other activities or even left the room. Guess which group fared worse in the pain department? That's right-the pampered patients reported the worst discomfort, and their pain-related brain waves were three times higher than their counterparts who were left alone. From this data, the researchers concluded that the typical conduct-and even the mere presence-of a spouse actually stimulates physical pain. Now, before you think I'm advocating this approach, let's consider the reality of the situation. Trust me on this one (especially you men): No matter what these psychologists say, don't ignore your spouse's pain-or you'll be the one who's hurting. (I can just see the letters in my inbox now: "Doc, I ignored her so she'd get better-and she did! But did she thank me? No, she whacked me upside the head with the rolling pin!") Given plenty of TLC, the pain will go away, but your marriage won't.
Getting my own two cents in,
William Campbell Douglass II, MD
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