As sentient beings, we experience our reality in different ways. These ways are grounded in our biological, physical and psychological experiences and the skills: feelings, emotions, ideas, and the like, that allow us to react to and live in the world around us.
Pain is a natural response to physical, chemical, pathogenic, and other agents that affect our organic form. We may experience pain as a result of our own actions, at the will of another, or just by random event. In any case, our body and mind (nervous system) have no choice but to feel the impact of pain-inducing forces.
Pain may also be of an emotional nature. Our mind, or as we usually state “my heart” or “my soul”, aches due to some feeling, emotion, thought, or experience. We may experience the pain as a stimulus that directly affects us, or as an empathetic response to the pain and suffering of others.
Suffering is an emotional response to pain. Our suffering may manifest as physical pain of some form, or more often, as emotional (psychological) pain.
Both physical pain and emotional suffering serve a vital role in our life: They allow us to interpret our physical and emotional context and react as needed to maintain or enhance our survivability.
Pain tells our body that something is physically wrong and corrective action is required. Emotional pain allows our mind to formulate an abstraction of itself and its emotional state; using this information to conceptualize emotional and psychic models to handle emotions, thoughts, and feelings. These discussions have focused on the biological and psychological implications of pain and suffering. These are a by-product of our species’ present state of being.
Our minds and bodies have developed collectively either by natural or “God-driven” evolutionary processes, and individually, as a function of our personal history and genetic make-up. Before looking at theological or teleological aspects of pain and suffering, we will discuss the psychological issues relating to pain and suffering.