Is it possible to alleviate a child’s experience of pain without using medication? Italian pediatrician Carlo Bellini (Carlo Bellini) from the University of Siena became interested in the analgesic effect of … cartoons.
He divided children from 7 to 12 years old, who took blood from a finger, into three groups: some watched TV during the injection, others were consoled by their parents, and they just sat next to the third. It turned out that the schoolchildren who were comforted were twice as sick as those who watched the cartoon. But more than others, the pain was felt by children whose parents were simply nearby.
Dr. Brenda McClain, commenting on these results, clarifies that any exciting activity (say, reading a funny story) distracts from pain. But the words of consolation, on the contrary, are often frightening: listening to them, children think that something very serious is happening.