Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can lower the levels of inflammatory factors to reach antidepressant effects. Studies showed that the combination of antidepressants and NSAIDs is effective in decreasing anxiety and depression symptoms, improving cognitive function, diminishing inflammatory indicators, and reducing somatic pain in patients who suffer from anxious depression.  

State University of New York at Albany

Studies have found that social rejection activates the same pain regions as physical damage! In one such study, brain activity of participants was monitored in an fMRI machine while they played a game of catch that was curated to trick them into thinking that they were being intentionally excluded in a virtual game of catch.  Those who felt more distressed had higher activation of the anterior cingulate cortex, suggesting that the extent to which a person is upset by rejection correlates with the activation of the areas that process and allow us to feel pain. 

Biological Basis of Pain Associated with Social Rejection

Dong, C., Shi, H., Yan, Z., Si, G., & Liu, J. (2022). Quality of evidence supporting the role of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of anxious depression: a protocol for an overview of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. BMJ open, 12(12), e067621. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-067621

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