Physical pain VS Mental pain

[Im2high4this]

What do you think is worse, extreme mental pain, or extreme physical pain? This is a thought inducing question, I'm not trying to imply one is worse then another, or somebody experiencing both is the "winner". Ignore your own situation and try and look at it unbiased. It's not a easy question to answer, so don't be worried about speaking how you feel.

Simple as this: imagine you are the happiest person in the entire universe. You are given the option of having either physical pain, or mental pain...what would you choose? Why would you choose it?

 

[GreyMonkey]

Mental pain is worse.

With physical pain there is still capacity to connect with others, there is much more care, understanding and support available. There is a valid reason to stay at home, have visitors, etc.

Mental pain by its nature is isolating. One can look entirely normal, it isn't visible to others, it can't be connected to, it's not so understood nor is there anywhere near the same kinds of support available. One is expected to get better, get over it, etc. One is expected to still work towards being a functioning member of society even if they aren't capable of it.

 

[Stan]

That is a question that could have me going in circles for weeks!

 

[Ritter]

It's a real difficult question, I think there are people on this forum who have extremes of one or the other and that's why they are here and then there are people who would trade theirs for the other kind.

For me I think physical pain is easier to deal with (for myself), I tend to have a decent pain tolerance.

I'm here due to grief which is has been emotional pain that is just so overwhelming.

At the end of the day it all hurts and we all just want some relief.

 

[MeltingHeart]

I think totally equal but totally different-yet in some cases inextricably linked, as one can cause the other in turn. I have mental pain/anguish- and part of me thinks in the moment i'd prefer to have physical pain compared to this- yet i am sure I would most certainly think the opposite if it was the other way around. I do think that others/ soceity maybe have a little more empathy for physical pain sufferers as they can 'see' it and comprehend it more easily. Which i can kind of understand.

 

[sleepy dog]

I would choose physical pain. I have seen so many people with physical problems but they say they are "good" or even "great". Drugs can help with physical pain and not give horrible side effects or withdrawals.

 

[Are you lost too?]

Mental pain is worse.

With physical pain there is still capacity to connect with others, there is much more care, understanding and support available. There is a valid reason to stay at home, have visitors, etc.

Mental pain by its nature is isolating. One can look entirely normal, it isn't visible to others, it can't be connected to, it's not so understood nor is there anywhere near the same kinds of support available. One is expected to get better, get over it, etc. One is expected to still work towards being a functioning member of society even if they aren't capable of it.

This is so relatable - to be expected to get better and to get over it. Like it was that simples.

To trust in the meds - fortunately, I never had any serious physical illness but I don't remember any doctors ever telling me this for my small issues.

And also, one is expected to be patient, because "you will be better, you will figure it out, things will get better". MY ASS. The impression I have is everyone including psychiatrists and psychologists and family/friends just want to give you hope, when they seem I have none. But hope isn't a solution for anything.

Ended up venting on the topic lol
Anyway, I have never had any serious physical illness. I have depression and men this is horrible. I think it's very hard to answer. I can only imagine how it would be to live in acute physical pain. I'm inclined to answer I'd rather have the physical illness .. but I think I'm bias to this... so I guess I don't have a definite reliable answer. Hope this counts as an answer though.

I would choose physical pain. I have seen so many people with physical problems but they say they are "good" or even "great". Drugs can help with physical pain and not give horrible side effects or withdrawals.

Excellent point - physical drugs are way more developed. (Except for some incurable diseases)

 

[WhiteDespair]

Some mental pains activate the same areas of the brain as physical pain.

 

[Are you lost too?]

Some mental pains activate the same areas of the brain as physical pain.

I had no idea!!!

 

[GreyMonkey]

Some mental pains activate the same areas of the brain as physical pain.

Yes sometimes my anxiety has gotten so bad it hurts in my belly.

 

[WhiteDespair]

I had no idea!!!

You can look up the effects of social isolation on the brain. It seems to be the best documented. Some say that it is akin to physical torture.

What Extreme Isolation Does to Your Mind

In the 1950s, university researchers put volunteers in tiny rooms and deprived them of sensory input. The results were shocking.

www.motherjones.com

 

[Are you lost too?]

You can look up the effects of social isolation on the brain. It seems to be the best documented. Some say that it is akin to physical torture.

What Extreme Isolation Does to Your Mind

In the 1950s, university researchers put volunteers in tiny rooms and deprived them of sensory input. The results were shocking.

www.motherjones.com

Thanks for sharing.
Very serious consequences.
These old studies were really cruel. But without them there would be no way to confirm anything like this nowadays. (I'm obviously against it, just pointing this out)

Coincidence or not, this is the university I went for an exchange program lol

 

[Life+me=error]

I experienced both. Physical pain is Cleary worse. The difference is the duration of the pain. Physical pain usually subside (toothache etc I am not talking about terminal cancer or chronic pain) while mental pain is a constant pain with little to no short term cure/relief.

 

[MaybeMaybeKnot]

Having been exposed to pain management for the last decade, I would say physical pain would be my preference. There is no cap to how much morphine (or equivalent units) the body can tolerate with increased exposure, so there's always more available (to a point). Plus there are spinal cord stimulators, pumps, and so forth. Nerve pain is considerably more troublesome, but there is at least the understanding of what is happening or what caused it. Nerve damage, impingement, diabetes, etc. But mental pain, especially with hallucinations, voices, bpd with no real treatment options, that sounds terrifying.

(I know CRPS and trigeminal pain are horrible. There are exceptions to everything. I'm not minimizing anyone's experience)

 

[Stan]

The parameters the OP gave was extreme physical or mental pain. Will assume they meant neither would subside.

 

[MaybeMaybeKnot]

The parameters the OP gave was extreme physical or mental pain. Will assume they meant neither would subside.

Then to your previous point, endless circles. I would wish neither on anybody.

 

[Not_Quite_Dead_Yet]

What do you think is worse, extreme mental pain, or extreme physical pain? This is a thought inducing question, I'm not trying to imply one is worse then another, or somebody experiencing both is the "winner". Ignore your own situation and try and look at it unbiased. It's not a easy question to answer, so don't be worried about speaking how you feel.

Simple as this: imagine you are the happiest person in the entire universe. You are given the option of having either physical pain, or mental pain...what would you choose? Why would you choose it?

I can't even begin to imagine being the "happiest person in the entire universe"; the very concept boggles my mind. But yeah, even though I live in constant and extreme physical pain, I guess I'd still choose that over extreme mental anguish. It breaks my heart to read of so many people, especially the youngsters, trying to either cope with or escape unbearable mental pain and end uphospitalized or over-medicated with a cocktail of questionable meds . Which is not to say I am happy - far from it. But my inner demons are not (so far) cannibalizing my soul.

 

[Life+me=error]

We have one known member who is suffering from extreme physical pain. I bet she would switch to constant mental pain in a heart beat.

 

[MeltingHeart]

I experienced both. Physical pain is Cleary worse. The difference is the duration of the pain. Physical pain usually subside (toothache etc I am not talking about terminal cancer or chronic pain) while mental pain is a constant pain with little to no short term cure/relief.

i find it interesting that u say that physical pain is clearly worse- despite saying in subsides, yet mental is constant- is that due to the severity of even short term pain? rather almost else something else constant, than bad but then eases off?
I was just thinking if I was to have physical pain (not just the physical discomfort I have caused by general agitation and being so unhealthy since breakdown) -alongside mental pain maybe I wouldnt be so scared of pain in method- as i became to used to it somehow- as it my main reason to be feaful & halt ctb at present.

 

[drake4871]

Extreme physical pain can give you mental pain (Panic, fear) and extreme mental pain can give you physical pain (Panic attack, cutting). I've unfortunately experienced extremes of both and I'd have to say the physical pain was worse. The pain was so bad I couldn't move because I was scared it'd hurt again, but even if I didn't move it'd still hurt so that gave me mental pain as well. I also think our mind cares more about our physical well being than our mental well being

 

[wiIIow]

as someone who suffers both chronic physical pain, and unbearable mental suffering - i dunno. one tends to exacerbate the other, either would be easier to tolerate without the other. I've not been able to receive quality care for either, and in fact have not been able to get any doctor to believe in my physical pain as a real thing that is being experienced nonstop.

i do often find myself thinking that i could more easily navigate mental difficulties if i could have the physical pain taken away. it's incredible how much it taints every facet of existence, how much it adds to already existing mental suffering.

both are Hell, but I'll take the unpopular mental anguish to go, please.

 

[C.Darko]

Mental for me. Because I can numb Physical. But Mental pain is like an untreatable wound when it gets really bad.

 

[Tortured_empath]

I would choose physical pain. I have seen so many people with physical problems but they say they are "good" or even "great". Drugs can help with physical pain and not give horrible side effects or withdrawals.

Thousands of oxycotin addicted Americans would beg to differ.

 

[Daniela]

Extreme physical pain can give you mental pain (Panic, fear) and extreme mental pain can give you physical pain (Panic attack, cutting).

Interoceptive dysfunction: toward an integrated framework for understanding somatic and affective disturbance in depression - PubMed

Depression is characterized by disturbed sleep and eating, a variety of other nonspecific somatic symptoms, and significant somatic comorbidities. Why there is such close association between cognitive and somatic dysfunction in depression is nonetheless poorly understood. An explosion of...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The Culture of Pain

This is a book about the meanings we make out of pain. …

www.goodreads.com

 

[Tortured_empath]

We have one known member who is suffering from extreme physical pain. I bet she would switch to constant mental pain in a heart beat.

@Sweet emotion What do you say b0ss?

 

[sleepy dog]

Thousands of oxycotin addicted Americans would beg to differ.

And my response would be - I would choose physical pain. I have seen so many people with physical problems but they say they are "good" or even "great". Drugs can help with physical pain and not give horrible side effects or withdrawals.

Not everybody that uses painkillers or other drugs get addicted to them.

 

[Chronic pain]

I suffer both of them. I would choose mental ilness, because i was able to do a normal life with it (depresión and anorexy), physic pain has kept me without nothing. I cant sleep, im not happy and im so deppressed again. Drugs, morfina, dont control my pain y doctors think my pain hasnt sense because They dont look any ilness relationated.. Pain is the cause for my ctb. I want relax...

 

[charlie_z]

I would choose physical pain. I have seen so many people with physical problems but they say they are "good" or even "great". Drugs can help with physical pain and not give horrible side effects or withdrawals.

I like how you wrote what you wrote: direct, accessible, and concise.

 

[Rachel74]

I have both. Bipolar and ME. But my mental pain outranks the physical pain.

 

[KiraLittleOwl]

In my opinion physical pain can be worse. Extreme mental pain cause brain to shut down, go numb to an extent which is not the case with physical pain.