The Psychology of Pain: And The Lie You Were Told That Turns Pain into Suffering

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We were lied to.

The lie was so subtle that we believed it without thinking twice about it.

It seemed small, innocuous, and easy to take for granted on first blush. But the reality is that this single mistruth has caused more suffering in the world than perhaps any other; an example of how only a small amount of toxin is sometimes enough to poison something several times larger than the dose.

The difference between pain and suffering:

Pain is an inevitable and ubiquitous part of life. Pain comes in many forms, but might be described as any experience that draws our attention to the presence of a problem. Pain can be physical or emotional, and in many ways, pain is processed in similar pathways in the brain and body.

While pain is most often experienced as an irritant, the experience of pain itself is neither inherently good nor bad.

In some instances, pain is experienced as desirable or even pleasant. For example, when you bend over to stretch your body, the tension that you feel in your joints, muscles, and tendons is an extension of the pain response; however, many report that things like stretching, firm massage, and many forms of exercise “feel good”…