Words Stronger Than Stone

A news report at the BBC confirms what I've believed for a long time; words are powerful.

The journal Psychological Science claims psychologists found memories of painful emotional experiences linger far longer than those involving physical pain.

Researchers are suggesting it is much harder to "re-live" physical pain than to recall social pain, and that the evolution of a part of the brain called the cerebral cortex, which processes complex thinking, perception and language, might be responsible.

Michael Hughesman, a child psychologist based in Germany, explains that "There is something very intangible about emotional damage - with physical pain, you can see the bruise, but in emotional abuse there is often fear and anxiety which remains."

The report reminded me of my post "The 'H' Word" and the story about hateful words as nails being hammered into the heart.

Even when the pain goes, the hole remains.

Read more: About words | News >>