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It ,ay be hard or impossible to do, but the potential certainly is there. http://theconversation.com/emotions-affect-how-pain-feels-as...:

”Beecher initially wondered whether these war-wounded men were generally insensitive – for chemical or hormonal reasons, for instance. However, this turned out to be untrue since even badly wounded patients who claimed not to be in pain cursed medics who were rough when giving them an injection. Instead Beecher concluded that the best explanation for the men’s lack of pain involved their emotional state. They were not suffering because their wounds represented an escape “from an exceedingly dangerous environment, one filled with fatigue, discomfort, anxiety, fear and real danger of death,” but because they provided them with “a ticket to the safety of the hospital”.”

Simplifying the explanation, it seems optimism (?or delusion?) (“things will get better” or, maybe, “the pain prevents me from doing things that will do more harm”) helps decrease suffering.



I also think of how one person sees a sensation of mild pain. As a kid, most falls, even harsh at times, don't last in your mind. I remember nasty crash on mountain bikes where we would dust ourselves off, laugh and go. The thrill of the action made the pain very secondary. Even the day after, when the injury would hurt a bit more we wouldn't really complain. Because it's part of the pleasure of trying, achieving.

After a certain point, the brain shifts, we're not in growth, we're in maintenance mode and every problems is void of side value, it's just this, a problem.

Maybe it's also because these are self or externally inflicted sensations, compared to surgery for an internal disease.




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