Anxiety and hurtful feels that arise when one feels excluded (be it a team sport, a dinner party, or a breakup) can be categorized as social pain. In the brain, social rejection is a category of pain that isn’t too different from the pain that we feel after a physical injury, disproving the outdated saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Gender differences in bullying styles reiterate this ideal – while boys usually resort to physical bullying, girls tend to use social rejection to hurt each other.

• Evolutionary Explanations of Pain Associated with Social Rejection
• Biological Basis of Pain Associated with Social Rejection
• Tylenol for Pain Associated with Social Rejection