Purposes of Pain - Part 1
Why do we have to feel pain? It’s an age-old question. A question where even a perfect answer doesn’t seem to suffice our why’s. “Why is there pain? Why is it happening to me? Why can’t I just have one good week?”
It would be ignorant of me to say I can tell you exactly why you’re feeling the pain you’re feeling. We all have unique circumstances, different methods of processing, and are affected by pain in ways that others may or may not be affected themselves. I can’t answer the reasons for every person’s pain, but stay with me because I believe I can still help!
This post is the first of a two-part series where we’re going to discuss the purposes of pain. We won’t look over a comprehensive list of pain’s purposes, but we are going to focus on two foundational ones that are consistently present throughout life. The better we understand them, the better we can respond to our pain. So let’s dive in to the first purpose of pain.
Pain is a Warning Signal
Pain, whether physical or emotional, is a signal that warns us when something is wrong and needs addressing.
Have you ever heard of CIPA? It stands for “Congenital Insensitivity to Pain and Anhydrous”. It is a physical condition, present since birth, where one cannot feel pain or temperature due to nerve dysfunction. Now I know some of you reading this might think, “That sounds amazing! I’d love to live without ever feeling pain!” But let me assure you, this is not a desirable condition to have. CIPA is a dangerous disorder. According to an article by The Journal of Young Investigators, “There have been an extremely small number of CIPA patients who have lived past age 25.” It may seem beneficial to us to live without experiencing pain, but it’s actually more harmful than the pain itself.
See, as we go throughout life, pain gives us a warning that what we just experienced was not pleasant, healthy, desirable, or worth repeating. When a child touches a hot stove, whether intentionally or accidentally, the pain of the burn teaches them to be more cautious around burners in the future. But a child with CIPA, in the same circumstance, may keep their hand on the hot stove and end up with severe burns. Pain is necessary. A lack of pain eliminates the warning that something harmful is affecting the body, and thus, will continue to harm if not addressed.
While CIPA is specifically a physical condition-not involving emotional pain-the same concept of the necessity of pain still carries over. Regardless of who, or what, caused it, pain on all accounts indicates to us that something is wrong.
“Pain is unmasked, unmistakable evil; every man knows that something is wrong when he is being hurt...And pain is not only immediately recognisable evil, but evil impossible to ignore...pain insists upon being attended to.”
Mistreatment, anxiety, a bad relationship, parents who left, financial hardship, the loss of a child.. none of this was ever meant to be a part of the life created for us! Something. is. broken. But that doesn’t mean things have to stay broken. You don’t have to stay broken.
“Pain insists upon being attended to.” With a broken heart or a broken arm, pain forces us to respond to the issue. If we ignore the pain and try to shove it down it can’t properly heal and, often times, will affect other areas of life beyond the initial problem area. If we respond to pain with our immediate emotions we may end up making choices that aren’t right or good for us in the long run. What I want to encourage us all to do is to respond to pain by looking at the insight it gives.
In the next post we’ll talk about the insight that pain gives us and how we can respond appropriately.
-Stephanie Lauren Auman
