We feel pain; we choose to suffer

1. PAIN AND SUFFERING
BY: ABDUL MAHIR FATHIMA SAKEENA

2. TEXTBOOK DEFINITIONS OF PAIN
• Highly unpleasant physical sensation caused by illness or injury. –
OXFORD DICTIONARY
• Localized physical suffering associated with bodily disorder (such as a
disease or an injury); a basic bodily sensation induced by a noxious
stimulus, received by naked nerve endings, characterized by physical
discomfort – MERRIAM-WEBSTER
• physical suffering or distress, as due to injury, illness, etc. ;
mental or emotional suffering or torment – Dictionary.com

3. TEXTBOOK DEFINTIONS OF SUFFERING
• The state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship. – OXFORD
DICTONARY
• The state or experience of one that suffers – MERRIAM-WEBSTER
• the state of a person or thing that suffers – Dictionary.com

4. ”
“ Between stimulus and response there is a space. In
that space is our power to choose our response. In
our response lies our growth and our freedom.
Victor E. Frankl
STIMULUS = PAIN RESPONSE = SUFFERING

5. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PAIN & SUFFERING
PAIN
• It is the physical component.
• It can manifest either as pain in a part of the
body or an event that is painful.
• A certain amount of pain is inevitable in life.
SUFFERING
• It is the emotional component.
• It is the interpretation or narrative you tell
yourself about the pain.
• Suffering is optional.

6. “ There is no use crying over spilt milk. ”
An old proverbial saying

7. PAIN AND SUFFERING ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE
You can have pain and not suffer.
You can suffer and not have pain.

8. ALL OF US EXPERIENCE PAIN THE
SAME WAY BUT RESPOND/SUFFER TO
IT DIFFERENTLY

9. FACTORS INFLUENCING SUFFERING
• Age
• Gender
• Socioeconomic status
• Education
• Culture
• Religion and Spirituality
• Fatigue/anxiety
• Family support
• Previous experiences
• Situational factors

10. CULTURAL INFLUENCE ON HANDLING OF PAIN
Some cultures encourage the expression of pain, especially individulas
having a Mediterranean, Middle Eastern or Hispanic background. = reaction
to pain is “normal” and anything substantially different is “abnormal”. Talking
it out helps.
Other cultures encourage the suppression of pain, especially individuals
having an Asian background. = self conduct, self discipline, people-pleasing

11. SPIRITUAL AND RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE ON PAIN
INTERPRETATION
Belief in fate, karma, higher power = acceptance of pain is
important in demonstrating their religious faith
Example: Buddhism, Islam, Christianity

12. CHANGING VIEWS ON PAIN IN A CULTURE
Until about the 18th century, Christian cultures in Western Europe
had a broadly fatalistic view of pain.
Genesis (3:16) tells us that
in sorrow [i.e. pain] thou shalt bring forth children.
Pain was heaven-sent, a concomitant of the human condition:
[a] necessary trial, unpleasantness preceding some greater good, punishment, or
fate.
But over the following centuries pain was progressively medicalised:
pain was subject to human intervention and treatment.