--noun
Physical suffering or distress, as due to injury, illness, etc.
A distressing sensation in a particular part of the body
Mental or emotional suffering or torment
Synonyms:
Ache, affliction, agony, burn, catch, convulsion, cramp, crick, discomfort, distress, fever, gripe, hurt, illness, injury, irritation, laceration, malady, misery, pang, paroxysm, prick, sickness, smarting, soreness, spasm, sting, stitch, strain, tenderness, throb, throe, tingle, torment, torture, trouble, twinge, wound
That's dictionary.com's definition of "pain" and its synonyms. There are 38 synonyms listed and 3 different uses of the word "pain" and yet, we use just one simple word to sum up all of our hurts, afflictions, ailments, and bothers. What is so strong about the word "pain"? Why is it able to sum up any and all things that may be bothering us in our daily lives? Is it laziness? We are simply too lazy to use a 6 letter word such as "injury"? Maybe it's because the word "pain" more than adequately describes what we feel. When we hear "pain", our mind automatically covers every ailment from the slightest prick or bump all the way up to excruciating agony that a serious accident may cause. Words such as "ailment" only bring thoughts of sickness, and "injury" immediately flashes images of broken bones, serious cuts and burns, and disaster sites. "Pain" is the only word that can cover all these things and more.
So what is pain? Obviously we are all familiar with typical, everyday pains such as bumping into a table, hitting our head, getting a small burn, etc. This type of pain is fairly tangible and understood, even with differing pain tolerances and ways of dealing with pain. What about emotional pain? Or mental pain? These types of pain can neither be measured, nor understood by anyone except who is feeling it. How then, can we use the same word as physical harm? It neither feels the same nor is talked about in the same way. Even the causes of mental and emotional pain are different than physical pain. Physical pain is caused by objects, matter, or waves coming into contact with your body and acting negatively upon you. Mental pain has virtually nothing physical attached to it. It comes from the effects of radical religious believers, from betrayal and harm caused by our loved ones, from the torture of a lover playing with your heart, or from the disappearance of a God we always thought would be there.
There are all kinds of sayings out there relating to pain and overcoming pain. "No pain, no gain," "the strongest will survive," "pain is weakness leaving the body," and the whole idea of natural selection: overcoming pain and suffering because of certain traits you have is beneficial in the end. Sure, there are some good aspects to pain such as it alerting us to things that are wrong within our bodies, but is it really possible to argue that pain is good for you? All these phrases tell us that going through pain is good and the more we go through, the stronger we are and will become…but is this healthy? Between 2003 and 2004 (the most recent data I could find), the suicide rate among young people ages 10-24 jumped nearly 8 percent. Suicide was cited as the 4th most common way to die among young people in 2004, the 11th most common in the United States, and was in the top 3 for males, whites, American Indians, and Asian-Americans. The vast majority of suicides are a direct relation to mental health disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, and others. These forms of mental and emotional pain are behind the one of the top three most common causes of death for a majority of our population and yet, we still spread around phrases praising people for handling their pain and overcoming it by themselves. Yes, they may have accomplished a feat, but shouldn't we be a little more concerned about the people who are not able to overcome the pain by themselves, and who need help, else they become a statistic? Maybe our self-centered, natural selection-obsessed society should try to help ease the pain for people instead of causing more harm through "perfect" airbrushed models, movies that promote the "ideal" man, and inept leadership that seems to create more problems and stress than it fixes (Iraq, Afghanistan, a national debt of more than $12.3 trillion, Social Security, health care, etc.).
1/7/2010
© 2007-2010 Jacob Tauer
This information is not to be used in any form, online or off, without the express permission of the author
This information is not to be used in any form, online or off, without the express permission of the author
