Why are some of us so compelled to stare at unsettling photos and videos of things that we’d prefer not to see in real life? A bloody scene from Grey’s Anatomy, or a putrid peek at Dr. Pimple Popper squeezing pus-filled blemishes. It’s like we can’t help ourselves, even if our stomachs are churning.
Some scientists believe it’s because viewing such content from a safe distance allows us to be both disgusted and curious at the same time. Both are evolutionary feelings. And both can protect us. But more on that later…
First, we’re going to test your ability hold down your breakfast while scrolling through some rather unsettling medical images. From a really creepy-looking medical dummy, to an x-ray of a brain after a piece has been removed… Bored Panda has put together a list of “look away but not quite yet” medical photographs shared by people online. Each image tells its own story, and all provide a window into a world that we wouldn’t ordinarily see.
Wondering why you can’t stop scrolling through this list even though a part of you is begging you not to? Don’t worry. You’re not alone… “People are often drawn to things that bother them,” says Alexander Skolnick, a psychologist who studies disgust.
Disgust is an important emotion. It’s meant to protect us. “We tend to feel it when there’s something harmful around,” explains Quartz. “We know snakes and some insects mean danger. Vomit means something made someone else sick. Poop carries diseases. When we see any of these, we naturally want to avoid them.”
Meanwhile, curiosity calls on us to explore and learn more about the world. Including those things that can be harmful to us. Viewing unsettling or gross content allows us to feel disgust and curiosity together. Basically, we can be a bit disgusted, while still using the images or videos to protect ourselves in the future.
“I think it is about experiencing these things in safe ways,” Skolnick explains. “It’s gross, but it’s not you…it’s something you can turn off. You have power over it.”
Her name is Harriett and she was a maid employed at drexel university college of medicine, now the medical college of pennsylvania. She wished to dedicate her body to science.
Dr Val Curtis calls herself a ‘disgustologist.’ Yes, really. She’s the director of the Environmental Health Group at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. And says that disgust is specifically about things that might make us sick.
“You might dislike the taste of cheese, but it’s not going to necessarily make you sick,” explains Curtis. “You might be disgusted by the sight of a cockroach sitting on that plate of cheese – because the cockroach has probably come out of the toilet and is carrying pathogens on its feet.”
This treatment for severe burns is an unorthodox procedure they can ease the pain of victims and cut medical costs. The skin substitute reduces inflammation and help to heal chronic wounds (E.G. Diabetic wounds).
A long time ago, our ancestors relied on disgust to survive. Feeling disgusted helped them avoid harmful bacteria in rotting food, toxic water, waste and dead animals.
“Humans with a strong sense of disgust not only stayed healthier, but would have been seen as a more attractive mate and passed on those ‘disgust genes’ to their offspring,” BBC reports.
“Those who had a ‘healthy squeamishness’ would have gone on to have more children and practised good hygiene, and that would have protected their children,” explains Curtis. “Those who didn’t have that squeamishness would have simply died out.”
Disgust comes with a physiological reaction. And there are steps to feeling disgusted… The first is paying attention. The gross thing makes you stop what you’re doing and check it out, without getting too close.
Next, you might squirming or sweat. “Your palms go clammy, your hands go up and you stay away from touching the thing – or dropping it if you ignored step one,” Curtis told the BBC.
You could very well pulling a face. Perhaps you stick out your tongue out or close your mouth up tight. “Your tongue is simulating pushing the thing out of your mouth and keeping it out, just in case,” explains the BBC.
The final step, which many of us have experienced, is gagging. “Especially if it’s a food-related disgust response, your stomach starts to churn to discourage you from ingesting it, and prepare you to throw up in the event you did,” reads the site.
Didn’t Expect To See I Have A Condition Where My Hearts Artery And Vein Has Been Flipped To The Opposite Sides Of Each Other At Birth, Which Is Apparently Rare.
Dupuytren contracture is a painless condition that causes one or more fingers to bend toward the palm of the hand. The affected fingers can’t straighten completely. Knots of tissue form under the skin. They eventually create a thick cord that can pull the fingers into a bent position.
These ants would be positioned to clamp the skin edges with their jaws. Once they bit down, the body of the ant would be cut off, leaving the head to act as a stitch.
The extra phalangeal bone can vary in size from that of a small pebble to a size comparable to the phalanges in non-thumb digits.
Due to this, when used in the medical field, incisions made with the blade heal faster with less scarring. They have been used as tools since the stone age.
A 74-year-old man with hypertension presented with vision reduced to only light perception in his right eye. A relative afferent pupillary defect was observed, and retinal examination showed an occlusion of the central retinal vein. The abnormal pupillary response was caused by retinal ischemia. A hypoperfused retina exudes angiogenic factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). New vessels formed on the pupil (Panels A and B show low and high magnification, respectively) and also in the angle, the aqueous drainage system that surrounds the iris. Angiogenesis in the angle can occlude the drainage pathway, causing glaucoma and the complication of a painful, sightless eye. Regression of iris neovasculature was achieved with the use of intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy and maintained with the use of scatter laser photocoagulation of the ischemic retina. The patient’s vision in the affected eye remained unchanged, and hypertension was the risk factor associated with this ocular vascular occlusion. Owing to the severity of disease at baseline, there was no visual improvement.
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