Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hi brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: Lauren Voge obam here. Most people don't like having pimples.
Speaker 1: In fact, acne treatment is a nearly five billion dollar
Speaker 1: a year global industry, but for many there's a silver
Speaker 1: lining to the errant, unwanted sit Eventually, if you're patient,
Speaker 1: strategic and delicate, you'll get to pop it just right.
Speaker 1: Don't worry, no one's judging. I'm certainly not. Despite or
Speaker 1: perhaps because of the gross out factor. There's even a
Speaker 1: major online presence of pimple popping videos, like those put
Speaker 1: up by dermatologist Dr Sandra Lee, perhaps better known as
Speaker 1: Dr pimple Popper, whose YouTube channel has more than three
Speaker 1: point five million followers. Whether or not watching other people's
Speaker 1: bodily fluids get expressed is your personal jam, Popping your
Speaker 1: own sits is usually a cathartic experience. So um why.
Speaker 1: As with just about everything we do, the brain and
Speaker 1: a whole old smorge board of chemicals are involved. So
Speaker 1: the human response to zip popping is more complicated than
Speaker 1: we thought. Zip management often captures our attention, not like
Speaker 1: kittens do because looking at them is pleasant, but rather
Speaker 1: the opposite. We're disgusted by it. The emotion of disgust
Speaker 1: is a powerful, multifaceted, often contradictory instinct. We spoke via
Speaker 1: email with Purdue University professor Daniel Kelly, the author of Yuck,
Speaker 1: The Nature and Moral Significance of Disgust. He said, you
Speaker 1: make that yuck face, you tend to think of the
Speaker 1: disgusting thing is contaminated and contaminating, polluted. You get that
Speaker 1: flash of nausea and emotional frision, But you also tend
Speaker 1: to keep an eye on, keep track of whatever it
Speaker 1: is that triggered your disgust. So disgusting things also attract
Speaker 1: and capture attention. It's just part of the way the
Speaker 1: psychological system works, how it's able to do its job well.
Speaker 1: As a result, this inherent disgust causes us to pop
Speaker 1: the zip or watch these zip popping video. We also
Speaker 1: e conversed with Matt Trout, a psychotherapist in California who
Speaker 1: specializes in the psychological aspects of skin conditions. He said,
Speaker 1: for many people, pimple popping comes from a compulsion to
Speaker 1: ensure that their skin looks and feels smooth. They view
Speaker 1: any irregular patch or bump, such as a pimple as
Speaker 1: an imperfection that must be removed, but there's also a
Speaker 1: pleasurable side to getting the puss out of a big ZiT.
Speaker 1: Florida based neuropsychologist Rhonda Freeman says that positive sensations associated
Speaker 1: with pimple popping actually begin well before the act is committed.
Speaker 1: She said via email, prior to popping the pimple, there
Speaker 1: might be the sensation of wanting to engage in the act.
Speaker 1: The neurotransmitter dopamine as at play at this stage and
Speaker 1: may fuel some of the anticipatory excitement of going for
Speaker 1: the ZiT. This can cause a person to feel stimulated
Speaker 1: as the system is ignited into action. Stimulating because it
Speaker 1: could be gross, and there's the possibility of pain, and
Speaker 1: it might get messy. The fun is hardly over before
Speaker 1: it begins. However, she continued, Once the pimple is popped,
Speaker 1: there is often the immediate sensation of pleasure and relief.
Speaker 1: This is probably thanks to the liking or hadonic response
Speaker 1: from the reward system, and that reward system is some
Speaker 1: serious stuff. The neuro transmitters and action at that point
Speaker 1: are endogenous opioids, which double as natural pain killers and
Speaker 1: generally just make us feel good. Then there are those
Speaker 1: people who enjoy popping other people's pimples. This urge is
Speaker 1: as old as time and is commonly seen in primates.
Speaker 1: Dr Freeman explained primates are very social creatures and experience
Speaker 1: the release of oxytocin when engaged in the act of grooming.
Speaker 1: We have the same neurochemical release when we groom each other. However,
Speaker 1: it's not all golden. Psychotherapist Troub said if you are
Speaker 1: stressed or anxious, pimple popping can give temporary relief but
Speaker 1: doesn't address the underlying issues. Instead of dealing with the
Speaker 1: actual problems, pimple popping can be a quick fix that
Speaker 1: makes you feel like you're resolving in urgent matter or
Speaker 1: source of stress. He also noted that excessive pimple popping
Speaker 1: is a way that's people abuse themselves, especially those who
Speaker 1: are being picked on by others, whether at home, work, school,
Speaker 1: or so on. He said, popping your pimples can be
Speaker 1: a strategic behavior to give you a sense of control
Speaker 1: over yourself. By literally picking on yourself, you can feel
Speaker 1: some control over the unwelcome behavior of others. Your skin
Speaker 1: can become a metaphor with pimples, acting as a message
Speaker 1: of inferiority. Clearing those pimples can provide relief for a substitute.
Speaker 1: You might try popping bubble wrap. The act of popping
Speaker 1: those plastic pieces releases muscle tension, effectively reducing stress. It
Speaker 1: has also been shown to facilitate calmness and attentiveness. Today's
Speaker 1: episode was written by Aliya Hoyt and produced by Tyler Playing,
Speaker 1: with kind engineering assistance from Ramsay Youngt. For more on
Speaker 1: this and lots of other pop and topics, visit our
Speaker 1: home planet, how stuff Works dot com.