• Question: Why do we suffer pain?

    Asked by anon-206365 to Zoe, Jose Eliel, Hannah on 11 Mar 2019.
    • Photo: Zoe Wimshurst

      Zoe Wimshurst answered on 11 Mar 2019:


      I teach about pain on the psychology course so hopefully I can help with this question.

      Pain has a number of functions – but primarily it is there to stop us causing ourselves more injuries. So if you put your hand in a fire and you didn’t feel pain you might not move your had away as quickly and therefore your hand would get really badly hurt.

      There are some people who are born without pain receptors and they really struggle to live a ‘normal’ life because they do not understand about what is going to cause them harm. These people often suffer from many broken bones and other injuries, and also things that you might not think of such as diseases in their joints because they do not get uncomfortable feelings that would cause most people to change their positions to relieve the pressure.

Comments