5 ms·
Another somewhat-related rabbit hole: > A Scottish woman with a previously unreported genetic mutation (dubbed FAAH-OUT) in her FAAH gene with resultant elevat
by AlbinoDrought 6y ago
Another somewhat-related rabbit hole:
> A Scottish woman with a previously unreported genetic mutation (dubbed FAAH-OUT) in her FAAH gene with resultant elevated anandamide levels was reported in 2019 to be immune to anxiety, unable to experience fear, and insensitive to pain. The frequent burns and cuts she suffered due to her hypoalgesia healed quicker than average [1]
Acetaminophen can elevate anandamide levels [2]. It would be interesting to know if the altered perception of risk could be related to the "immune to anxiety" effect experienced above.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatty_acid_amide_hydrolase#Function https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatty_acid_amide_hydrolase#Fun...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anandamide#Synthesis_and_degradation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anandamide#Synthesis_and_degra...
- kylebenzle 6y agoMy wife is like this in BOTH regards and I have been baffled by her for over a decade! I tell everyone, I have never met ANYONE like her, I honestly thought she was completely unique. By all accounts she seems to be utterly immune to both physical pain and does not experience fear. (1) She was a glass blower in college and would regularly get large burns that did not seem to bother her at all. She has multiple tattoos that she says caused no discomfort, gave birth to both our children without any drugs and to this day says it caused her no pain. She is aware of things happening but they do not bother her. Not in a bad way, I have often told people, she does not feel anything. (2) She can say anything to anyone, anywhere and feel nothing like anxiety. This has also baffled me but I NEVER would have thought the two were somehow connected. I've asked many times if she ever gets nervous or anxious talking to people and says she does not and it is clearly true. In ten years I've never seen her cry or so much as tear up. When we lived on a farm she was our go to for any slaughtering, she sliced our goats throat without even wincing and I saw her once stand up to a 1,000+ pound charging heifer without thinking twice and made nothing of it. It blows my mind but makes so much sense that this could be a single DNA mutation! Hopefully it is one 23 And Me can check for!
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- gnulinux 6y agoAs some who is diagnosed with both hyperesthesia [1] and anxiety disorder, it's really funny how your wife is the opposite of my experience. It reminds me of Murakami's Wind-Up Bird Chronicles we experience the same things and lead similar lives yet our senses can be so different to a point where something fatally painful can be so pleasurable to others. [1] My skin is hypersensitive to pain, to the point sometimes it's very painful to put on clothes. Usually it's manageable with wearing large clothes, but it's worse if I haven't had enough sleep or some allergies (or salty food etc) are causing inflammation.
- spdionis 6y ago> things and lead similar lives yet our senses can be so different to a point where something fatally painful can be so pleasurable to others. If you ever try even a small amount of psychedelics you'll be amazed how different the world can feel just by modifying your senses a little bit.
- Roritharr 6y agoMy wife is for all intents and purposes the opposite of yours and always complains about me and our kids being afraid of nothing. Her life, and so in some respects also mine, revolves around overcoming her own fears, so it's really interesting to read your opposite experience, thanks for sharing!
- ardit33 6y agohonestly, it kinda sounds like a textbook psychopath.... at least from what you are describing here...
- numpad0 6y agoReal world psychopaths has no problem understanding the concept of pain, if you punch them in the face they’ll get mad and punch you back. The way “lack of theory of mind” works is when they decide in their free will to hit you and you hit them back, they don’t quite understand how that happened despite them not intending to hit themselves.
- chrisco255 6y agoI watched a hitman on death row get interviewed by a psychiatrist who wanted to know why he was the way he was. The psychiatrist explained to him that he had this trait (felt no pain, felt no anxiety, etc). He explained it's common in people with dangerous careers. He explained that people with this trait who grow up in nurturing homes tend to come out ok and usually work dangerous roles. This hitman grew up in an abusive home and that coupled with this trait was what shaped him into what he became.
- coldtea 6y agoAs if you've read those textbooks?
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- watwut 6y agoI would point out that it is pretty normal not to cry for 10 years. Like most women cry at funerals, not randomly.
- p1esk 6y agoNo, this is not at all normal.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- amelius 6y agoAre there any downsides to this mutation?
- rbanffy 6y agoYou can misread the risk of any situation and die a horrible death. More seriously, pain is a warning signal that tells you something is wrong. I'm not sure how accurate the reading is without the pain signal. It may cause you to misjudge any number of things (muscular fatigue when you swim, frostbite when you hike in cold weather, burns when you blow glass...) that may have severe complications immediately or later. Apart from that, not much.
- trianglem 6y agoI used to take two Tylenol before large presentations and I would feel a lot less anxious.
- chrisco255 6y agoI've heard this is a common trait for stunt devils, special forces and contract killers.
- MichaelZuo 6y agoWow, do you know if this sort of selection criteria is confirmed through genomic testing or reliant on hear-say?
- chrisco255 6y agoThis was from a psychiatrist interviewing a hitman on death row, explaining to him his condition after the hitman had been curious to know. It's a well known but rare psychological phenomenon, I think the genomic link is only a relatively recent find.