Beta Blockers and feelings
A recent Dutch study showed that there is a relation between Beta Blockers as hypertension medication and bad feelings. Merel Kindt and her team used propanolo (INDERAL) to remove, talking in short term, the fear induced by painful memory.
This study about Beta Blockers opened the door for new thoughts to help patients suffering from anxiety and fears. The main question that jumped in all doctors minds now is how long this effect lasts and if it can affect memories that extends for years or the recent memories.
In this experiment Merel Kindt has induced a kind of fear in 60 students at Amsterdam University. This was done during 3 days. On day one students learned to relate spiders images with electrical shock. Fear was detected by checking how much each student’s eye blinked to the stimulus. The second day, same procedure took place but after giving the students propanolol or placebo (devided into two groups). In the third day students have tested again and Kindt found that propanolol group has been eliminated of physiological fears.
