- Watching others suffer is a powerful way to alleviate one’s pain (schadenfreude).
- So is altruism – giving back with no expectations of a return.
- Why don’t we gravitate to Schadenfreude?
- Because your neocortex (thinking brain) has to come back online
In 2019, Dr. Wang conducted extensive research, documenting that altruism affects specific regions of the brain to decrease pain. It is longer-lasting and creates positive feedback loops. In contrast, schadenfreude (feeling pleasure from observing others suffering) also provides pain relief but is short-acting, destructive, and addictive. (1)
The Body’s Natural Pain Relievers
The “survival triad” of anxiety, anger, and schadenfreude is a gift. These reactions keep us alive. Suppressing any of them creates havoc with your body’s chemistry and fires up RUTs. We avoid anxiety because we feel vulnerable. Anger is a mixed issue. We tend to avoid it because it is so dark, powerful, and disconcerting. Yet at the same time, it’s such a relief compared to anxiety, we don’t want to give it up. Additionally, there is a component of dopamine, which makes it addictive.
Schadenfreude refers to the feeling of pleasure derived from observing another’s suffering. (2) It lights up the same pleasure circuits in the brain as addictions. Therefore, it is a primitive pain reliever, and we tend to gravitate towards it. However, the more moral a person you are, the more abhorrent it feels, and you suppress it. In the wild, it is much simpler: anxiety – a warning of danger, anger – solve it by any means necessary; schadenfreude – the problem is solved, let’s have a beer.
Schadenfreude or altruism
Without understanding alternatives, it is our default pain reliever. The marketing world has knowingly taken advantage of this and is aware that envy lights up the pain regions in the brain. One of the outcomes is FOMO (fear of missing out). The greater one’s envy, the stronger the schadenfreude. They have also hired neuroscientists to target the areas of the brain associated with pain and schadenfreude to maximize their effects.
To access peace, love, and contentment requires that we access the higher thinking centers of the brain, in contrast to the survival triad (anxiety, anger, and schadenfreude) emanating from the lower regions. There is an effective alternative that relieves pain, which is altruism and social connection – giving to someone without expecting anything in return.
Groundbreaking neuroscience research by Wang et al. has revealed a profound truth: altruistic behavior not only feels morally good, but it also reduces physical pain. Across multiple rigorous studies involving blood donors, laboratory participants, and cancer patients, researchers have consistently found that people who help others experience measurable pain relief, often within minutes of their acts of kindness.
The Neural Mechanism
Using advanced brain imaging, scientists discovered that altruistic behavior activates the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), a region that processes meaning and significance. This activation then dampens activity in classic pain-processing areas, including the anterior cingulate cortex and bilateral insula. The more meaningful participants found their helping behavior, the greater their pain relief, suggesting that purpose, not mere distraction, drives the effect.
Most remarkably, brain scans showed that the intention to help others created a preemptive analgesic state before any painful stimulus was applied. The brain prepares to suffer less when we’re focused on helping others.
Turn on the Light
Healing comes from “turning on the light” rather than “fighting darkness.” Traditional approaches focus on eliminating pain, trauma, or problems—essentially battling what we don’t want. You cannot fix darkness.
The altruism research demonstrates this principle in action. When people directed their attention toward helping others instead of managing their suffering, their brains automatically shifted from pain-focused to meaning-focused processing. This isn’t positive thinking or denial—it’s neurological transformation through purpose.
Schadenfreude – the Dark Side of the Coin
The crucial difference lies in sustainability and side effects. Altruistic pain relief correlates with increased well-being, social connection, and life satisfaction. Schadenfreude, while potentially offering temporary relief, often leads to increased cynicism, social isolation, and moral distress over time.
Moreover, altruism creates positive feedback loops—helping others often leads to gratitude, social bonds, and opportunities for further meaningful engagement. Schadenfreude creates negative cycles of judgment, competition, and interpersonal toxicity. Since it is short-lived, it must be engaged in frequently. It is interesting that altruism, which provides long-lasting relief, isn’t addictive and is the one that builds character.
The Practical Revolution
It is not difficult to integrate meaningful volunteer opportunities, peer support programs, and community service into treatment protocols. Even simple activities, like calling a friend, doing small things to complement your family, or helping someone mow their lawn. No matter how small, you’ll feel better.
The cancer patient study showed that something as simple as cleaning common areas “for wardmates” (versus “for yourself”) produced significantly greater pain reduction over time. The same physical activity, but with altruistic intention, literally changed brain function and subjective experience.
The Deeper Truth
The altruism-analgesia connection reveals something fundamental about human nature: we are neurologically wired to feel better when we contribute to others’ well-being. This isn’t mere sentiment but biological reality. Our brains have evolved to reward behaviors that benefit the group, creating a natural alignment between moral action and personal healing.
Social connection also stimulates the release of oxytocin, a potent anti-inflammatory hormone.
If social connection and altruism are primitive ways of feeling better, why do we so often gravitate toward schadenfreude? Perhaps it is when we react with frustration that we don’t feel like reaching out, even though reaching out can also break the anger cycle. It also depends on how angry you are. Anger causes the activity of the higher thinking centers of the brain to go offline. In fight or flight, your energy is concentrated on survival, not philosophy. Therefore, an essential step in accessing this more sustained source of pain relief is to calm down enough to think clearly and make better choices.
In a world often focused on individual achievement and problem-solving, this research demonstrates the profound healing power of connection and service. When we shift from asking “How can I feel better?” to “How can I help others?”, our nervous systems naturally transition from reactive survival modes to creative, generative states.
The implications extend far beyond pain management to encompass depression, anxiety, trauma recovery, and other chronic illnesses. The prescription is simple: to heal ourselves, we must turn our attention toward healing others. Oddly, altruism isn’t as altruistic as it sounds, but it works!
To have a good life, you must live a good life. It takes practice.
References:
- Wang Y, et al. Altruistic behaviors relieve physical pain. PNAS (2020);117:950-958. www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1911861117
- Takahashi H, et al. When your gain is my pain and your pain is my gain: Neural correlates of envy and schadenfreude. Science (2009); 323: 937. Doi: 10:1126/science. 116504
- Carter, Sue. Sex, love, and oxytocin: two metaphors and a molecule. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 143 (2022) 104948. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104948