Breaking Up Hurts. There's a Pill For That and it's in Your Cabinet

When the one you love rejects you, there is no pain in comparison. A broken heart physically hurts.

The pain is real.

The same areas of your brain are triggered during a romantic breakup as during physical trauma. Neurological imaging from functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) scans show that pain caused by a loved one hurting you activates the pain centers of your brain as exactly as when you break an arm, have a toothache, or severely burn yourself.

Located an inch behind the forehead, the anterior cingulate cortex perceives the pain from a heartbreak the same as that of bodily harm. We say "I'm crushed", or "he/she hurt me" because the feeling is literally painful. Neurologically all pain is recognized the same by the body. This holds true for animals as well. They feel pain when abandoned or rejected by their owners or pack.

Taking this into account it doesn't seem so farfetched to learn that the pain of a breakup can be reduced by taking Tylenol.

In addition to lessening the pain of rejection, researchers found that acetaminophen change peoples moral judgments. They become less indecisive and internal emotional and moral conflict is quieted.

The ability to induce subtle shifts of perspective gives new meaning to Tylenol's slogan- “Feel better.”