We all know that drugs are used for many different purposes. Some drugs are used as medicine such as Ibuprofen to relieve and reduce pain. Other drugs are used in a more recreational setting like caffeine which will give you a jolt of energy, or marijuana which will relax your body and your mind. There are other things that aren’t really drugs, but they still affect your brain the same way drugs do. Have you ever heard somebody say “love is a drug”? But money, cold hard cash, is also a drug to many people.

Students came into the lab and were told they would be participating in a test of finger dexterity. One group was given a pile of Chinese currency to count. Another group was given blank pieces of paper to count. Then, some of the students were asked to put their fingers in bowls of water heated to 122 degrees Fahrenheit and rate how uncomfortable it felt. The subjects who had earlier been counting money and had their hands in the painfully hot water reported that the water didn’t feel so hot to them, compared to people who had counted slips of [blank] paper.

Who would have thought that cash could be used as a type of painkiller. But what exactly is it about cash that causes your brain to react this way? After all, money is just paper with words and colors printed on it. But we’ve been raised to think (or know) that money is a necessity to live and survive in this world.

Maybe the pain doesn’t feel as intense after counting cash because subconsciously people think if the pain gets too bad, they can trade their money to stop the pain, whereas people who had the blank paper had no “bargaining chips” and had to deal with the pain alone. This is the case with physical pain, but what about emotional pain?

As far as your brain’s concerned, money can act as a substitute for social acceptance, reducing social discomfort and, by extension, physical discomfort and even pain. We think money works as a substitute for another pain buffer — love.

After handling money but before dipping their hands in hot water, the students were asked a variety of questions involving deep emotions (like love, hate, war, sex) and were asked to describe and rank each emotion or concept. People who were handling real money ranked negative emotions, such as heartbreak, at levels a lot lower than people handling blank pieces of paper. This suggests that not only does money help reduce physical pain, it can also help reduce emotional pain to a degree. So maybe work is a good way to distract yourself and reduce the pain of a bad situation.

Money can’t buy happiness, but it can reduce the pain of sadness.
-Alex Weidmann