What is pain and its role in the psyche of the individual and the evolution of the species
It would seem that the answer to this question should be simple, understandable and obvious, since all people faced pain (physical and psychological) (well, except for the disappearing small percentage of people with special neuropathologies). And given the frequent occurrence of pain in life, respectively, and the number of publications on this topic should be a lot. And there are really a lot of them, but almost all of them are about what to do with pain, how and because of what it appears, how to deal with it or how to deal with pain, what to do, correct, change, accept and so on. But how can something be done with the phenomenon, the essence of which is not at all clear or concrete? And yet, did a man ever stop misunderstanding? This is a person, not a robot - failure to understand the essence of something else is not a reason to refuse to act in relation to this “something”. And this is not that bad, rather even good, since it is a way of knowing - to twist / twist / attach / tap / smash, which would eventually be understood.
And yet - what is pain? I go to the B17 (tusnya psychologists) and do a search and look for a definition, description or understanding of pain. Here is what I found (you can skip this part - anyway, I will write my definition below, which is not on this list):
• Pain is our energy, which, under the influence of some event, took a negative charge that injured and bit our soul.
• Mental pain is a reaction to the loss of any value and violation of boundaries in the field of the organism / environment.
• Mental pain is the emotional effect of stopping or distorting the process of experiencing.
• Pain is the inevitable companion of the liberation in therapy of the process of experiencing from the power blocked chronic methods of organizing contact, in particular from symptoms.
• The nature of emotional and physiological pain is essentially the same - there is an unreasonable situation of interaction with the world and, as a result, the trauma — physical or emotional.
• Any pain (physiological or emotional) is the result of our failure to accept reality, the result of a distorted perception of the world and people, unjustified expectations for someone or something.
• Pain is a signal to the body that there is a malfunction in some part of the body.
• Pain is a signal that your psychological need is not realized.
• Pain - reaction to a situation - rejection of something
• Pain - as a signal to stay in the memories of the situation of pain and, accordingly, about the absence in here and now.
• Pain - as a signal of lack of energy of love inside.
• Pain is always a consequence of any internal causes.
• Pain is a symptom, a manifestation of deeper experiences.
• Pain is that which is obvious to man.
• Pain - a signal of lack of harmony in the interaction of man with the world.
• Pain is one of the powerful markers of correctness of movement on the path of self-development, an assistant in making the right decision.
Has it become obvious to someone what pain is? I don’t, although some definitions are pretty close to my understanding of pain, to which I came as a result of understanding two similar situations in my life (problems with eights and their removal), one of which was accompanied by painful experiences, and the other was not. But more about that later, but for now let's move on to the “official” definition of pain. The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) defined the concept of pain: "Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with true or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage." And it's all? An unpleasant experience? Not much.
')
I will now return to my experiences of pain and reflections on it. For the first time, problems with the eight were painful for me - except for “unpleasant sensory and emotional experiences” - there was also pain! Which, for some reason, was not the second time, but there were unpleasant experiences. And it was exactly as in the definition of pain - I felt damage to the tissue (body, body), I described it in terms of such damage, and these experiences were unpleasant - everything was as in the definition. BUT PAIN IS NOT WERE! Very strange, I thought, the situations are similar, the tissue damage is the same, the descriptions of the experiences are the same, and there is pain in one case and no pain in the other. Naturally, this prompted me to think that pain is something else. Something that can complement, and may not complement the "unpleasant experiences." What distinguished me personally these two cases? Understanding the ongoing process (changes in the body / body / tissue), the willingness to accept the changes and their adoption. Everything. Then you could not write, but I will not deny myself the pleasure to speculate and be smart :)
What is the simplest example of physical pain experience? For example, they injured a finger - there is hardly such a person among those who read these lines who have never been given injections or did not take blood for analysis. And, probably, many if they do not know, they realize that the thinner the needle and the more relaxed the place of the injection is, the less pain during the injection. A mosquito, when it penetrates tissue, is hardly anybody notice pain at all. What does this mean? You can say this: the higher the resistance to tissue damage - the more pain. Thinner needle - less resistance, less pain. Tense muscles / tissues at the injection site - more resistance - more pain. And now the same thing, only more generalized: resistance to the changes in the body causes pain.
Does the person (his consciousness) under general anesthesia resist changes in his body? Not. And the pain does not feel. And under the local? There are two options - a person may not be aware of what is happening (nerve impulses do not reach the brain through the visual channel or through the peripheral NS) and then there is no pain. Or the second option - a person knows what is happening (he sees or feels otherwise), but even here there may be two options - is it acceptance of what is happening or not. In one case, when there is acceptance of what is happening, there is no resistance, and in the other case, when there is no acceptance, the person usually begins to resist (physically or morally). And please tell me, in which case will a person “feel” pain (physical or mental), even when he was locally numbed for all the tomatoes?
Well, or more extreme case - a fracture, but as a visual demonstration - an exaggerated example from “Harry Potter”, where he was accidentally “removed” by a broken bone. Bones and joints (and other tissues) naturally resist pressure (changes that occur), which is accompanied by pain. And the higher the pressure and the corresponding resistance, the higher the level of pain. But the impact force exceeded the resistance force and the bone broke - it no longer resists and, in theory, should not hurt. But here comes the resistance of the nearby tissues - “how can it be,” they will say, “there was always motionless, there was always a bone that could be supported and relied on for its hardness and inflexibility, but now it isn’t , let's resist everyone - let's make an inflammatory labor strike! ” That is, “cleverly speaking” - a violation of the functionality of the bone apparatus leads to a change in the requirements for nearby muscle fibers, connective (and other) tissues, which, naturally, causes their resistance - you are not sure to break it locally, you understand. And if the cinema magically broken bone in time (before the protest strike of nearby neighbors) to remove - then there will be no one to resist and there is no need for pain, respectively, there will be no - as demonstrated in the designated film more than explicitly. Although discomfort, note - remained. Of course, this example is quite exaggerated - a man’s hand is a much more complex system than “a muscle is one thing, a bone is one thing”, and in reality many factors work, including mutually opposing, and if you really remove the bone, you will find such tissues that will resist this change and pain, respectively, will still be.
Well, with the body, I hope everything is more or less clear, but what about the soul? Yes, in the same way - resistance to changing ideas about myself (who I am, my values, people / things with whom I identify or identify my ability to survive) or about the world - leads to a feeling of pain. The loss of a loved one, the threat or damage done to the current system of human values ​​- all this, with the natural course of events, leads to the acceptance of these changes and the corresponding change in their ideas about themselves or the world, changes in their souls. If a person resists these changes, does not want (cannot) take them - hello pain. Or, for example, split-off or repressed feelings / experiences - the inability to accept / reintegrate them causes resistance to the natural course of the processes, and again - hello pain. In the banal case - the resistance to the adoption of some thoughts, ideas of principles, their immediate experiences - hello headache (or otherwise somatized) pain. And of course for different people, all these will be different thoughts - for someone the thought / experience “husband of a goat” causes pain because of the impossibility of making such a thought, but for someone else it could be “mom / dad / wife / baby / Neighbor / Head / President "and so on to infinity - split-off and repressed experiences of a hundred pieces, if not more.
As a result of such reflections, I came to the following understanding of pain: “Pain is sensations corresponding to resistance to changes (in the body or in the soul / psyche)” or complemented by the complementary definition: “unwillingness / inability / unwillingness to accept the changes, resistance to these changes correspond to the sensation of pain. " And of course this does not cancel, but complements all other "unpleasant experiences associated with (imaginary or real) changes / tissue damage." And even more, it adds a lot of “bright / dark / strong colors” to such dull “just unpleasant experiences”, repeatedly increasing their influence and subsequent affects.
And now I propose to look at this definition of pain, ascending to the philosophical heights of the macro-evolutionary level, where (IMHO) the main function of the brain can be considered the adaptation of the carrier of the brain to all kinds of changes in the environment. Here it turns out that pain forces, mobilizes, forces to accept the changes that have occurred in the external environment (and the corresponding internal changes in the body). And while there is no such acceptance of changes (and it is not fulfilled, respectively, the main adaptation task entrusted to the brain) - the body feels pain. It turns out that pain is a necessary and integral part for the evolutionary development of the organism and complementary corresponds to the adaptive abilities of the organism - the higher the ability to adapt - the less often it hurts, the faster the adaptation - the less pain in duration. It turns out that depriving the body of suffering from pain will begin to degrade its ability to adapt. Well, in general, something like that.
And yet - what is pain? I go to the B17 (tusnya psychologists) and do a search and look for a definition, description or understanding of pain. Here is what I found (you can skip this part - anyway, I will write my definition below, which is not on this list):
• Pain is our energy, which, under the influence of some event, took a negative charge that injured and bit our soul.
• Mental pain is a reaction to the loss of any value and violation of boundaries in the field of the organism / environment.
• Mental pain is the emotional effect of stopping or distorting the process of experiencing.
• Pain is the inevitable companion of the liberation in therapy of the process of experiencing from the power blocked chronic methods of organizing contact, in particular from symptoms.
• The nature of emotional and physiological pain is essentially the same - there is an unreasonable situation of interaction with the world and, as a result, the trauma — physical or emotional.
• Any pain (physiological or emotional) is the result of our failure to accept reality, the result of a distorted perception of the world and people, unjustified expectations for someone or something.
• Pain is a signal to the body that there is a malfunction in some part of the body.
• Pain is a signal that your psychological need is not realized.
• Pain - reaction to a situation - rejection of something
• Pain - as a signal to stay in the memories of the situation of pain and, accordingly, about the absence in here and now.
• Pain - as a signal of lack of energy of love inside.
• Pain is always a consequence of any internal causes.
• Pain is a symptom, a manifestation of deeper experiences.
• Pain is that which is obvious to man.
• Pain - a signal of lack of harmony in the interaction of man with the world.
• Pain is one of the powerful markers of correctness of movement on the path of self-development, an assistant in making the right decision.
Has it become obvious to someone what pain is? I don’t, although some definitions are pretty close to my understanding of pain, to which I came as a result of understanding two similar situations in my life (problems with eights and their removal), one of which was accompanied by painful experiences, and the other was not. But more about that later, but for now let's move on to the “official” definition of pain. The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) defined the concept of pain: "Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with true or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage." And it's all? An unpleasant experience? Not much.
')
I will now return to my experiences of pain and reflections on it. For the first time, problems with the eight were painful for me - except for “unpleasant sensory and emotional experiences” - there was also pain! Which, for some reason, was not the second time, but there were unpleasant experiences. And it was exactly as in the definition of pain - I felt damage to the tissue (body, body), I described it in terms of such damage, and these experiences were unpleasant - everything was as in the definition. BUT PAIN IS NOT WERE! Very strange, I thought, the situations are similar, the tissue damage is the same, the descriptions of the experiences are the same, and there is pain in one case and no pain in the other. Naturally, this prompted me to think that pain is something else. Something that can complement, and may not complement the "unpleasant experiences." What distinguished me personally these two cases? Understanding the ongoing process (changes in the body / body / tissue), the willingness to accept the changes and their adoption. Everything. Then you could not write, but I will not deny myself the pleasure to speculate and be smart :)
What is the simplest example of physical pain experience? For example, they injured a finger - there is hardly such a person among those who read these lines who have never been given injections or did not take blood for analysis. And, probably, many if they do not know, they realize that the thinner the needle and the more relaxed the place of the injection is, the less pain during the injection. A mosquito, when it penetrates tissue, is hardly anybody notice pain at all. What does this mean? You can say this: the higher the resistance to tissue damage - the more pain. Thinner needle - less resistance, less pain. Tense muscles / tissues at the injection site - more resistance - more pain. And now the same thing, only more generalized: resistance to the changes in the body causes pain.
Does the person (his consciousness) under general anesthesia resist changes in his body? Not. And the pain does not feel. And under the local? There are two options - a person may not be aware of what is happening (nerve impulses do not reach the brain through the visual channel or through the peripheral NS) and then there is no pain. Or the second option - a person knows what is happening (he sees or feels otherwise), but even here there may be two options - is it acceptance of what is happening or not. In one case, when there is acceptance of what is happening, there is no resistance, and in the other case, when there is no acceptance, the person usually begins to resist (physically or morally). And please tell me, in which case will a person “feel” pain (physical or mental), even when he was locally numbed for all the tomatoes?
Well, or more extreme case - a fracture, but as a visual demonstration - an exaggerated example from “Harry Potter”, where he was accidentally “removed” by a broken bone. Bones and joints (and other tissues) naturally resist pressure (changes that occur), which is accompanied by pain. And the higher the pressure and the corresponding resistance, the higher the level of pain. But the impact force exceeded the resistance force and the bone broke - it no longer resists and, in theory, should not hurt. But here comes the resistance of the nearby tissues - “how can it be,” they will say, “there was always motionless, there was always a bone that could be supported and relied on for its hardness and inflexibility, but now it isn’t , let's resist everyone - let's make an inflammatory labor strike! ” That is, “cleverly speaking” - a violation of the functionality of the bone apparatus leads to a change in the requirements for nearby muscle fibers, connective (and other) tissues, which, naturally, causes their resistance - you are not sure to break it locally, you understand. And if the cinema magically broken bone in time (before the protest strike of nearby neighbors) to remove - then there will be no one to resist and there is no need for pain, respectively, there will be no - as demonstrated in the designated film more than explicitly. Although discomfort, note - remained. Of course, this example is quite exaggerated - a man’s hand is a much more complex system than “a muscle is one thing, a bone is one thing”, and in reality many factors work, including mutually opposing, and if you really remove the bone, you will find such tissues that will resist this change and pain, respectively, will still be.
Well, with the body, I hope everything is more or less clear, but what about the soul? Yes, in the same way - resistance to changing ideas about myself (who I am, my values, people / things with whom I identify or identify my ability to survive) or about the world - leads to a feeling of pain. The loss of a loved one, the threat or damage done to the current system of human values ​​- all this, with the natural course of events, leads to the acceptance of these changes and the corresponding change in their ideas about themselves or the world, changes in their souls. If a person resists these changes, does not want (cannot) take them - hello pain. Or, for example, split-off or repressed feelings / experiences - the inability to accept / reintegrate them causes resistance to the natural course of the processes, and again - hello pain. In the banal case - the resistance to the adoption of some thoughts, ideas of principles, their immediate experiences - hello headache (or otherwise somatized) pain. And of course for different people, all these will be different thoughts - for someone the thought / experience “husband of a goat” causes pain because of the impossibility of making such a thought, but for someone else it could be “mom / dad / wife / baby / Neighbor / Head / President "and so on to infinity - split-off and repressed experiences of a hundred pieces, if not more.
As a result of such reflections, I came to the following understanding of pain: “Pain is sensations corresponding to resistance to changes (in the body or in the soul / psyche)” or complemented by the complementary definition: “unwillingness / inability / unwillingness to accept the changes, resistance to these changes correspond to the sensation of pain. " And of course this does not cancel, but complements all other "unpleasant experiences associated with (imaginary or real) changes / tissue damage." And even more, it adds a lot of “bright / dark / strong colors” to such dull “just unpleasant experiences”, repeatedly increasing their influence and subsequent affects.
And now I propose to look at this definition of pain, ascending to the philosophical heights of the macro-evolutionary level, where (IMHO) the main function of the brain can be considered the adaptation of the carrier of the brain to all kinds of changes in the environment. Here it turns out that pain forces, mobilizes, forces to accept the changes that have occurred in the external environment (and the corresponding internal changes in the body). And while there is no such acceptance of changes (and it is not fulfilled, respectively, the main adaptation task entrusted to the brain) - the body feels pain. It turns out that pain is a necessary and integral part for the evolutionary development of the organism and complementary corresponds to the adaptive abilities of the organism - the higher the ability to adapt - the less often it hurts, the faster the adaptation - the less pain in duration. It turns out that depriving the body of suffering from pain will begin to degrade its ability to adapt. Well, in general, something like that.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/401071/
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