It's all in the mind silly..

You are prone to getting tickled easy? You feel pain even from the smallest of pin-pricks? You think you like to pick up soft cushy things but hate to even touch slimy creepy things?

Guess what? Its all in the mind silly.

Tests conducted on volunteers at a pain-sensation study bore out the fact that pain is all in the mind of the beholder. Subjects were first given a moderate electric shock through electrodes in their forehands and asked to assess their sensation of pain on a scale of 1 to 10.

Then the subjects were either given a pain-enhancing drug or a pain-killer, and then the test was performed again. Voila...the folks given the pain-enhancing drug felt more pain when administered the test again, whereas the folks with the pain-killers didn't feel as much pain even when the shock threshold was raised.

Guess what though...the pills were dummies...just candy of sugar and flour with vegetable coloring. It just happens the people that were given the so-called pain-enhancing drug went into the test "expecting" to feel enhanced pain and presto..they did...And the folks that expected to feel less pain ended up feeling that way.

Further proof of pain and it being just in the mind can be seen in hypnosis experiments.

Nigel Marven, host of a BBC/Discovery co-produced program on the incredible senses, was subject to what could be a potentially painful experiment - having a hollow concrete block smashed on his bare-chest with a sledgehammer, while lying down on a bed comprising of 4 swords...and he walked away from the experiment unharmed. How did he do it?

He just imagined he was swimming in a warm temperature-controlled pool on a glorious spring day..and the fact that he was not expecting to feel pain while expecting the actions, combined with his mind thinking of something pleasant and pleasurable meant he walked away from the experiment with just a small pressure-impression of a blade on his back.

So the next time you think you are more prone to be tickled than the person next door or are susceptible to pain more than your friend, just remember...its all in your mind.