It is difficult to arrive at a common agreement about the meaning of pain. However, everyone will agree that pain implies physical discomfort. Pain can be in the form of aching, throbbing, smarting, stinging, pinching, pricking or burning. Most people associate pain with a physical injury. It can be a minor injury like a scratch or a major injury like a broken limb. The intensity and duration of the feeling of pain depends upon the seriousness of the injury. When we think of the term pain deeply, we realize that pain cannot be explained in a simple way. There are many types of pain. The understanding of the concept of pain is also decided by the consequences or the sources/causes of pain. “ The concept of pain is established early in life, , whether they are innate or learned, and once established, become characteristic, and determine the quality and force of our automatic responses in the future (Bar-Levav, 1988). We shall make an attempt to understand the meaning of pain with the help of examples.
The most common type of pain is physical pain. It is a result of injury to some part of the body. A slight scratch may lead to minor pain which lasts for a short while. Major injury can be caused as a result of accident or fall. This can give rise to severe pain which lasts for a long time. Doctors give pain-killers to deal with severe physical pain. If the injury is caused to any outer part of the body, the pain continues till the wound is healed. This is external pain. This kind of pain is temporary. If internal organs are damaged, there is internal pain. Internal bodily pain can also be caused by malfunctioning of systems like indigestion or kidney failure. Stomach aches are common. An example of unbearable internal pain is headache. Sometimes, there is a throbbing sensation in the head or in a wound which is septic. An individual finds it difficult to ignore this kind of pain. It gives rise to restlessness and desperation. Pinching is a kind of pain caused by something like a biting shoe. The sufferer cannot bear to continue walking with those shoes that bite! Sometimes, a stroke of pain flashes quickly in some part of the body and is gone. Pain of this kind is difficult to describe. Certain things cannot be explained; they have to be experienced, and pain is one of them. If pain continues over a long period of time, it is called chronic pain. Patients who suffer from chronic, recurrent pain have to be kept on medication. “Pain is subjective and influenced greatly by prior experiences, and pain is real. Pain associated with organic pathology is more easily explained and treated. However, pain that is atypical or unexplainable is usually a source of greater confusion and frustration. This is particularly true when it occurs in patients who are highly focussed upon symptoms, ” (Thefreelibrary.com, 2014). There is a tendency to distinguish between physical pain and emotional or mental pain. Bu giving the wound a name and a causative agency outside the individual, the pain is considered to be separate from the individual. This is a relief to the sufferer. When the cause is assigned to an outside agency, he is not blamed. If action is taken, it is taken against the outside cause. He is sure that no part of his body will be acted upon. If others fail to identify an outside source for pain, they blame the sufferer for feeling a pain which he ought not to experience. They may accuse him of pretending pain.
Thus, pain can be pretended. Only the sufferer can experience his own pain. It can have no external empirical form. It cannot be verified. External injuries can give only a rough idea about the amount of pain it may be causing. The sufferer can magnify it according to his will. Students often pretend pain when they want to remain absent from school or want an excuse for some purpose. Pretending pain is a wonderful excuse !
The best way to manage physical pain is to manage symptoms. When the cause and source of pain is discovered, measures can be taken to treat the causes and repair the damage so that the person is relieved of pain.
Now let us consider an interesting but common example which urges us to think about the real nature of pain. If a small child gets hurt, he immediately begins to howl loudly. He is quickly surrounded by the elders who ask him “Is it paining?” They pity the child and show sympathy. It turns out that the injury is too minor to create a scene. In such a case, we can say that perhaps, the child does not experience much pain. But the fact that he is hurt makes him believe that there will be pain. The elders condition his mind in that way. Hence, his pain is imaginary and not real. If pain can be imaginary, it leads us to the understanding that pain has something to do with the mind.
Physical pain cannot exactly be measured, but it can be roughly estimated on the basis of the physical damage done. Those who have prior experience of injury are in a better position to estimate the degree and type of physical pain that one may be going through. People talk about mental pain and suffering. Mental pain is not experienced in the same way as physical pain. The concept of mental pain must have originated in the experience of physical pain. It is a figurative use of the term. If anything that leads to physical distress, discomfort and restlessness is physical pain, then anything that leads to mental distress, discomfort and restlessness is mental pain. Mental pain cannot be experienced in the form of aching, throbbing or pinching like physical pain. It has its source in thoughts and experiences and not in any actual injury or malfunctioning of organs.
Pain can be an abstract idea when it is mental pain. If the origin of mental pain is in thinking, then there is no limit to the causes of mental pain. Man’s thinking has no limits. Hence, broken love, cheating, jealousy, infidelity, loss of a dear one are common causes of mental pain. Since these causes are very personal, we must accept that pain is a relative concept.
Physical pain can also be a relative concept. This is because every individual is different. A strong and hefty person may not be much troubled by a stab in the back. If a weak and timid person is stabbed in the same way, he will feel greater pain. This is true of external or internal bodily pain. Mental pain is certainly a relative concept. There are many examples. The great Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has mentioned in his autobiography that he had a terrible toothache when he was playing a test match. The match was important for him. He has described the extreme agony that he felt while he was playing. He could not concentrate on the game. He could not think clearly. He even thought of quitting the game, he was so desperate. Now those who have experienced it will know how bad a tooth ache can be. It was his sheer will power that helped Gavaskar to achieve his goal in the test match. (Gavaskar S. 1977).
There is the example of Karna from the great epic Mahabharata. Karna was the disciple of a rishi and lived in the ashram of the rishi and took training from him in the art of war. It was a custom for the disciples to attend to the needs of their guru and serve them. Once, while Karna was out on duty, the guru went to him and expressed that he was tired and wanted to sleep. So Karna placed the guru’s head on his thigh like a pillow and made him comfortable. Karna sat still without flinching while his guru slept soundly. A huge wasp settled on Karna’s leg and stung him deep until he bled. Karna did not move because he did not want to disturb his revered guru. Unfortunately, the wetness of the trickling blood woke the guru. ( Rajagopalachari c. 1972). The wasp’s sting was a physical infliction. It was a deep wound which bled profusely. Karna must have felt pain, but he did not show it. It was nothing else but control. It was control of the mind which enabled him to tolerate the physical pain. This is enough to prove that all pain is mental.
Just as people can pretend pain, the examples of Karna and Gavaskar show that it is possible to pretend that there is no pain. Strong people shake off pain. They can neglect it and continue to work with concentration in spite of pain. Pain can be ignored. Similarly mental pain can also be overcome by people who are mentally strong, by those who have a strong will power.
Physical pain can be relieved artificially by drugs and pain killers. Cancer patients are administered pain killing drugs in the last stages of the disease when it is very painful. It is cruel to make tem suffer. There are ways to relieve mental pain as well. There are some medicines that numb the brain. This stops the sensation of pain from being acknowledged by the brain and the patient feels relieved. Using drugs to numb the brain is acceptable in cases of mental patients who are not normal. For normal people, it is advisable to control their pain by using other methods. Sharing sorrows or problems can help to relieve pain. Engaging in rigorous physical activity which requires engagement of the brain as well helps to keep the mind off unwanted painful thoughts.
The connection of pain with the mind and the brain is evident in the occurrence of psycho-somatic diseases. For example, headache is physical pain. It may be caused on account of mental tension. Mental tension causes rise in blood pressure, diabetes, ulcers and several other physical ailments. Their origin is in the mind and not in any physical injury. Serious physical injury like loss of a limb can create a corresponding mental sense of loss and sorrow. The resulting pain is both physical and mental. Athletes experience feelings of separation, loneliness, guilt and a loss of identity and independence, because they feel that they are no longer vitally contributing to the team and that they are reliant upon others in the rehabilitative process (Lewis-Griffith, 1982). The athlete may also experience withdrawal symptoms if he/she must stop exercising which include depression, increased irritability, decay of personal relationships, anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, and muscle tension (Morgan & Goldston, 1987).
Pain can be conditioned. If a child gets hurt and id told that it is nothing serious, that he is a brave child and can surely ignore little pain, the child is conditioned to ignore minor pains, which is good for him. Children can also be conditioned to bear mental pain in a similar way. Pointing out the positive side of the matter is also helpful. If a person is told that he should be thankful for losing just a limb and not his life, he will look at the pain positively.
Whether physical or mental, pain has certain negative consequences. Pain makes a person feel restless and disturbed. It becomes difficult to focus, pay attention or work productively. One cannot think clearly when in pain. Pain gives rise to irrational fears. Pain causes irritation and anger. People feel frustrated. Chronic pain can make people short-tempered. Pain can be traumatic. Situations that cause pain cannot be wiped off from memory and people may get nightmares. Hence, the mind is negatively conditioned. Pain can also make people violent. They destroy things or hurt other people. People are known to commit suicide driven by unbearable pain.
If pain is acknowledged by others, it creates a good feeling. Pain being accepted by others is more important to some people than experiencing the pain. They continue to groan and wail until someone takes cognisance. Groaning, wailing, screaming and shouting are external indicators of pain. When pain becomes unbearable the natural instinct is to shout or cry. Some cry loudly, some silently.
One must not allow pain to have a permanent and damaging effect on one’s life!
References
Bar-Levav, R. (1988). Thinking in the shadow of feelings. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Gavaskar, S. (1977). Sunny days. Calcutta: Rupa.
Harlem, R., & Griffith, J. (1982). Expert answers to common legal problems in ambulatory surgery. [Atlanta, Ga.]: [American Health Consultants].
MORGAN, R. (1987). Non-aspirin Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs and Active Gastroduodenal Ulceration in the Elderly. Rheumatology, 26(2), 158-159. doi:10.1093/rheumatology/26.2.158-a
Rajagopalachari, C. (1972). Mahabharata. Chowpatty, Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.
Thefreelibrary.com,. (2014). Psychosomatic pain: new insights and management strategies. - Free Online Library. Retrieved 15 November 2014, from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Psychosomatic+pain%3a+new+insights+and+management+strategies.-a0140161533
