PAIN is inevitable, SUFFERING is optional, what does it mean?

It is common to hear people talk about pain and also suffering. However, it is well known that they do not mean the same thing, but do we know exactly what the difference is? We know why pain is inevitable and suffering optional? What does this mean? Is pain necessary? Does suffering have any meaning? Next, in this Psychology-Online article we will see the types of pain and the difference between pain and suffering with definitions and examples.

Index

1. Definitions of pain and suffering
2. What is the difference between pain and suffering?
3. About pain from a more psychological point of view
4. Importance of differentiating between pain and suffering

Based on the definition of the RAE^[1], the pain has as its first definition the "Annoying and distressing sensation of a part of the body due to internal or external causes". For his part, suffering has as definition "Suffering, pain, grief." If we continue with the second definitions, we find that pain is the "feeling of sorrow and anguish ”, while suffering is the“ patience, conformity, tolerance with which one suffers something".

As we can see, they are quite similar and close definitions, which causes that, on some occasions, it is difficult to differentiate them from each other. So what is the difference between pain and suffering?

To understand it, it may be necessary to go to a medical dictionary. According to him Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary, pain is a "more or less localized sensation of discomfort, anguish or agony, which is a consequence of the stimulation of specialized nerve endings". However, suffering does not appear in this dictionary since, at least on a merely physical, there is no suffering, so this would be reserved for the most psychological and most subjective. Suffering would be the reaction we have to the pain we feel.

When there is suffering, there may or may not be pain, so suffering could be defined as a psychological reaction before an event considered negative.

Suffering is the interpretation we give to pain and, therefore, it is optional. To better understand the difference between pain and suffering, we will look at some examples:

• When doing a marathon, our legs can hurt, however, we feel happy, proud. On the other hand, if our body hurts due to, for example, cancer, we feel angry, sad, anguished.
• When a person receives palliative treatment, he receives it to mitigate the pain of an incurable disease. However, the way to mitigate suffering is different, and it depends on the person himself.

On the other hand, and as we saw in the definitions of the RAE, pain is a more direct feeling of what has happened to us. However, suffering arises when it comes to assuming that something hurts us. Something can hurt us emotionally, however, we have on the one hand the path of moving forward, accepting the situation and although we hurt, continue our life, or do we have the path where we get stuck in that negative event that hurts us and we immerse ourselves in that pain. At that moment, the suffering would begin.

This depends on the people. Some feel overwhelmed by different situations and suffer high levels of suffering. Others, however, have a greater capacity to withstand painful events. These differences have their origin in the personality of each one and, in addition, they also have cultural, religious, social factors... That is, suffering depends, to a large extent, on the context. For example, many Catholics consider it necessary to suffer as Jesus Christ suffered.

In psychology, the most current therapies deal with the acceptance of pain andn the initial moments, and in the same way, they work on the different forms of letting go of that pain so it doesn't turn into suffering unnecessary lengthened in time. These therapies, therefore, are based on distinguishing pain and suffering and treating them appropriately. completely different and focus the treatment on different lines depending on whether the patient is in pain or suffering.

Taking into account the difference between the two is of the utmost importance at a professional level. We must understand that, after the death of someone important, after a love break, a dismissal, among many other situations, it is normal to feel pain, emotional pain. It is healthy and reasonable. The pathology would begin when the person is unable to feel another emotion other than sadness, unless they are negative emotions such as guilt or anger. In other words, the problem would start when there is suffering, especially if this suffering continues after the initial moments of the negative event that the person has experienced.

To better understand it, we can compare it with more physical pain. Who would have the problem: the person who has a leg injury and it hurts or the person who does not feel the injury? And who would have the problem: the person who after a while his pain mitigates or the one who the pain continues and goes to more even if the wound heals?

It should be normalized to feel negative emotionsThey help us, let us know when something is wrong. However, when these are prolonged in time and become very intense, they become useless and unnecessary for our daily life.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional, what does it mean?, we recommend that you enter our category of Emotions.

1. ROYAL SPANISH ACADEMY: Spanish dictionary, 23rd ed., [Version 23.3 online]. [October 9, 2020].

• Cabrera Adán, M., LLuch Bonet, A., and Casas Olazábal, I. (2008). Reflections on non-physical pain and suffering from a nursing perspective. Cuban Journal of Nursing, 24(3-4), 0-0.
• Callahan, D. (2004). Pain and suffering in the world: reality and perspectives. Humanitas Monographs, 5-16.
• Sancho, M. G. (1998). Pain and suffering. The problem of meaning. Rev. Soc. Esp. Pain, 5, 144-158.