How would you describe pain?
Thinking of a time when you felt pain, either physical or psychological, how would you describe it? What analogies come to mind?
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acute pain: flash, red, hot, sear, intense, heart-pounding
chronic pain: annoying, frustrating, depressing, fatiguing
I would describe it as a challenge.
For physical pain, the challenge is to recognize what’s going on whilst maintaining a steady composure.
Psychological pain is a lot more complicated. I would describe it as a silent torment. I would much rather have a broken leg.
A nagging, unrelenting and unpleasant feeling. Sharp, hot or sustained throbbing and uncomfortable feeling.
I’m trying to think of appropriate but not cliched analogies.
Hmmm. Coincidentally, I hit my shin hard on the corner of a cabinet this morning and felt real intense pain for the first time in years, probably decades.
I would say it it was the kind of pain that makes you puke. I almost pooped. I lay down on my face and thought, “This has to stop. I can’t believe this!”
It subsided pretty quickly though. I got on my bike a half hour later. There’s a scab and it’s a little sore to the touch.
Psychological is worse, it is asphyxiating, impossible to lift, tyrannizing, abysmal and it takes over not only the mind but parts of the body. Despair fills you because there is no pain relief of any kind.
Physical depends on what part of the body is ailing. Often like a knife has been dug into the person. As if the holder of the knife keeps turning and twisting it while still inside. Disabling, crucifying. I truly think nothing can be worse than any kind of serious pain.
It is beyond description. It is like trying to describe the color green.
To me the word “disease” is perfect… dis-ease. Not comfortable, not easy, not pleasant, not nice, not happy.
One function of physical pain is to draw one’s awareness inward, focusing on that part of their body in need of healing. The more intense the pain the more one’s attention will be drawn away from activities involving others. Psychological pain similarly limits consciousness of others. At its extreme, the desire to escape their suffering makes the idea of suicide more acceptable. In this state, one becomes less conscious of the effect that their dying will have on others or may rationalize this desire and become convinced that others will be better off after their death.
Like everyone else here, I’ve experienced many kinds of pain… dull aching (lower back, tooth, arthritic joints), throbbing (headache, sprain), stabbing (kidney stones), searing (burns and cuts), eye-watering (stubbed or broken toe), sometimes dull, sometimes sharp (bad knees) ... and that’s on a good day.
To paraphrase WC Fields, “All things considered, I’d rather be totally painless.” But that ain’t happening anymore.
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