# Which is worse: emotional pain or physical pain?



## The Exception (Oct 26, 2010)

I know there are lots of variables but just in a general sense, which do you think is worse?

I vote for emotional pain because it can psychologically scar you well after the event. Whereas physical pain just hurts, but its temporary and is unlikely to have a long-term effect on your psyche.


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## EricJS (Dec 8, 2012)

Difficult to answer because of the variables. Emotional pain can develop as a result of emotional or physical events which further complicates the issue. I guess I'd have to go with emotional.


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## Arya (Oct 17, 2012)

Whatever I'm experiencing at the time is always worse than the other.


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## basementbugs (Apr 5, 2012)

Emotional pain, because I experience it very deeply and do not let go of it easily. That said, I have a very low tolerance level for physical pain. It, however, doesn't usually cause lasting scars.


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## Mulberries (Feb 17, 2011)

I've experienced crippling emotional pain, but I still think physical pain is worse if you adjust for length of time. If it was 24 hours of severe depression or 24 hours of something like giving birth, I'd take the depression.


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## DAPHNE XO (Jan 16, 2012)

IMO, emotional pain has longer lasting effects because you don't ever really "heal" from it the way you do physical pain.


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## TheProcrastinatingMaster (Jun 4, 2012)

Physical pain, anyone who says emotional pain clearly hasn't felt real physical pain.


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## Sixty Nein (Feb 13, 2011)

I honestly think that both are more interlinked then one would actually put much stalk into. Mostly due to the fact that many traumatizing events often involves violent acts perpetrated against the victim, such as rape, injuries from an assault or war, car crashes ect.

The emotional problems generally last longer though. So I'm just going to go with emotional pain.

^ I've been a victim of physical assault and broke my damn arm that left it broke for 3 months, and I would honestly rather get assaulted 20x than to deal with the bullying I've received when I was in middle-high school. Which wasn't even a lot compared to other people deal with, and that I arguably deserved anyways.


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## Jane the Ripper (Mar 19, 2013)

Set me on fire any day! I cannot stand emotional/mental pain.

P.S. It just so happens that my whole bottom half is covered in third-degree burns. It looks like bacon, you know? Whatever physical pain that occurred must have been great because I do not remember it. The psychological trauma that I sustained, however, is still very much alive. I am afraid of anything that burns (water, fire, electricity, even the sun!).


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## nádej (Feb 27, 2011)

I'm over-dramatic, but...

Whenever I have a migraine, I cry about it and feel like it's never going to stop hurting and it's probably going to kill me.
Whenever I am grieving or have been emotionally hurt or betrayed, I cry about it and feel like it's never going to stop hurting and it's probably going to kill me.

Eventually there's potential to heal from both.


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## Sily (Oct 24, 2008)

For me -- Physical pain, _by far_.


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## Jennywocky (Aug 7, 2009)

For me, the emotional pain is worse -- I seem kind of inured against physical pain, it hits and then fades.

However, my opinion might change for chronic physical pain that never gets better. That can be VERY depressing and demoralizing, to the point where you just no longer want to live because you want the pain to end. Body pain isn't given enough credit for its impact on the mind and emotions over long periods of time.


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## Tea Path (Sep 5, 2012)

Neither: Pain: Brain doesn't differentiate between emotional, physical pain - Los Angeles Times


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## snail (Oct 13, 2008)

Emotional pain typically lasts a lot longer, causes more damage, and affects my life in ways that are more difficult to deal with. I don't have a single physical scar from playground bullying, but I still have panic attacks.

In fact, physical pain isn't a big deal to me unless there is also emotional pain involved. If I stub my toe, I get over it instantly. If someone strikes me, that person's hatred, and the feeling of being threatened by him/her, is the part that affects me, never the actual pain of the slap. Even when I was in an abusive relationship in which my partner used to leave horrible bruises all over my body, I didn't feel his fists at all while it was happening. I screamed because I felt the terror of knowing he wanted me dead, and that he didn't love me enough to care how I felt.


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## pmj85 (Jul 31, 2010)

Physical pain. 

Emotional pain can be compartmentalised, suppressed and circumvented... for a while.


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## Tea Path (Sep 5, 2012)

chronic physical pain affects you and your loved ones emotionally. wait for it if you haven't experienced it. it's unforgettable.


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## Cloverr (Jan 18, 2013)

Emotional for sure. I bare physical pain very well, I had an accident on my bike not long ago and I didn't even notice my _major_ bruises and cuts until like the next day, just thought I scratched my palm. It's mostly because of how I've trained my brain, this is why weather doesn't bother me either. I embrace discomfort, now only if I could learn to do this with emotions..


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## Animus Tigridis (Apr 5, 2013)

I voted physical pain. 

I don't think of much of psychological scars. 

I have endured numerous experiences throughout my life that should supposedly have left me scarred, and some which have at times been so painful that they broke me down to nothing, but I never stayed broken. I have kicked ptsd's ass so hard it can still taste my foot. I believe, wholeheartedly, in post traumatic growth. I believe in strength through adversity. I believe there is beauty in the suffering of profound loss. I believe in accepting what can't be changed, and embracing the inevitable. I believe that every experience can be given value. I believe that capacity for suffering and capacity for joy are born through the same mechanism. When we allow ourselves emotional pain we allow ourselves emotional joy.

Physical pain, on the other hand, is not like this at all. We don't need to suffer a broken leg to truly appreciate a gentle caress. Especially in chronic situations physical pain can be trauma that simply doesn't stop, or give you time to regroup. It just keeps on pounding you down with every moment, breaks you anew constantly, and finally drowns you without giving you a single chance of breath. That is the kind of never-ending torment that can actually kill a spirit.


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## Malx (May 17, 2011)

Emotional pain is way worse for me. Physical pain for the most part I understand and know that usually it heals and goes away. I have a hard time understanding emotional pain and I don't know what to do with it usually.


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## uniquelysane (Apr 5, 2013)

In general it seems emotional pain supersedes physical pain, though it does depend on the degree of each. 

If not in quality, then certainly in quantity. Most problems which humanity faces starts, and lingers through as a psychological/emotional suffering. Over time, that tends to lead way to physical suffering. 

Case in point: ecocide. a result of emotional/psychological suffering, when one digs deep enough. after enough of the "game" plays through, it leads to the coming global holocaust. 

Meh, wonder why I bother to point things like this out anymore.


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## Leliel (Nov 25, 2012)

Emotional. I can push through physical pain pretty easily.


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## Faballion (Apr 6, 2013)

It really depends on the intensity of either pain. I don't want to be tortured to death nor do I want everyone I love betraying me.


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## Ellis Bell (Mar 16, 2012)

Emotional pain is worse--because I don't know how to handle it.

Whereas physical pain is more a case of mind over matter.


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## iamrock281 (Mar 15, 2013)

I'd rather deal with physical pain because it's so much simpler. It hurts on a scale of 1 to 10. emotional pain requires processing that I'd rather not get into.


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## chibiidol (Apr 6, 2013)

I usually dont cry for physical pain but when it comes to emotions i cry for the smallest things... For me emotional pain in worst. I dont want to learn how to control my emotions, just how to think logically while experiencing intense emotions


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## Danah (Sep 15, 2012)

I'd say physical is worse because to me it always comes along with emotional and mental pain.
I can be depressed but feel physically well, which allows me to do activities that give me relief, but not the opposite.

Also I feel more in control of emotional pain than the physical one. I guess this makes me panic when I feel very ill: there's nothing I can do other than wait until it stops or be in someone else's hands (doctors/pain killers...) which is something I hate.


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## Monsieur Melancholy (Nov 16, 2012)

Gotta go with emotional pain for two reasons. One, you can be in perfect physical health and not have the ability to enjoy it. This is what I tend to think when it comes to depression being the worst type of illness from a philosophical standpoint. The second reason is that with physical pain people aren't telling you to "get over it."


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## chessio (Jul 18, 2012)

Tea Path said:


> Neither: Pain: Brain doesn't differentiate between emotional, physical pain - Los Angeles Times


You're a queen.

For me, both suck. They make you lose your composure, and it hurts the entire time and sometimes gets worse. I haven't been through enough of either to judge anyway.


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## Archetype (Mar 17, 2011)

Never had problem managing emotions. I don't think emotional pain is a real pain.
In the other hand, you can't cast physical pain without drugs. It is really troublesome.


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## rawrmosher (Apr 22, 2013)

Honestly, it depends on levels of pain  If we're speaking Theon Greyjoy levels after the Boltons get their hands on him then no thanks >.< 

But since that's not likely to happen, emotional pain is much worse. I've been down there, and it's not pretty =(


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## _sunkissed_ (Apr 28, 2013)

Definitely emotional pain. How you are feeling emotional also affects your body. Some also say that people who are depressed, in deep emotional suffering is at a higher risk of heart attacks. So i go with emotional pain because it goes much deeper, that's just what I think.


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## JackCoates (Mar 1, 2013)

I would say emotional pain. There is a potential to heal from both but I lost my Dad earlier this year before I turned 18. This is something that no amount of physical pain I have ever endured could amount to. This is just the way I feel anyway.


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## Cher Zee (Feb 15, 2012)

Oh physical pain for me. Why? Because it caused me severe emotional pain.

I've had chronic facial pain for 8 years due to TMJ. While most people couldn't see the difference, I certainly could. My face looked puffy and swollen. I couldn't hold my head up. Also I felt tired and lethargic all the time. Splints and orthodontics did nothing, neither did specialists. Finally just went to a normal dr who prescribed muscle relaxants. Been taking them for a month now.

The pain started to go away after 8 years. Wow. But the weird thing is how I began to feel so happy and normal. I was talkative again. I wasn't so introverted. I felt confident again. And these weren't conscious changes. They just sort of happened. I still have a long way to go but I feel better day after day. Amazing.

TLR: Chronic physical pain can cause emotional pain and both suck. : )


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## countrygirl90 (Oct 11, 2012)

I don't mind physical pain because I have suffered through it a lot in my life ,instead I like physical pain sometimes because it pleases me :wink:.
But I,m a very sensitive person ,so emotional pain is what causes me a lot of pain .That is the reason I like peaceful and natural atmosphere where I can recharge myself and be positive for different situations of my life .I think its bane of being an artist that makes me so much sensitive to emotions compared to other people .


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## Fear Itself (Feb 20, 2013)

Physical pain, but just by a bit. I have a pretty low pain tolerance sometimes. Emotional pain is no fun either, I'm just more accustomed to getting through it I think. It would kind of depend on the circumstances though.


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## Irana (Apr 3, 2013)

For me it's emotional pain, because you can't dull it as easily as physical pain. If I have a headache or worse I take a pill and it will wear off somehow. But to get rid of emotional pain is more difficult for me. But I have to admit that I haven't had real bad physical pain until now. The usual headache, migraine, cutting myself and so on, but nothing worse.

This makes me think of a friend of mine. In his case very bad emotional pain causes very bad physical pain.


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## SugarForBreakfast (Jun 25, 2012)

Emotional. There's drugs for physical pain. Then again, I haven't experienced true physical pain (gallbladder stone, for example).


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## SkittlesButterface (Apr 17, 2014)

Physical pain is usually accompanied by emotional pain. At least for me, anyway. 
So Ima go with that.


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## Bahburah (Jul 25, 2013)

Isn't it just pain?

Physical pain can be emotional,
and emotional pain can be physical.


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## Rice (Apr 27, 2014)

I'm pretty good at ignoring my emotions, but I'm a big baby when it comes to physical pain and I don't like taking any sort of medication if I don't have to so I end up needlessly suffering. So I voted physical pain, but just a little, or would have if I didn't accidentally click on no preference.


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## Plasternoid (May 22, 2014)

sceptical mystic said:


> Bad example, an AIDS-stricken, starving orphan is clearly suffering from both types of suffering, emotional and physical.


Which is why I rushed to edit my post to address that.


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## somnuvore (Sep 27, 2013)

It's easier to deal with physical pain than emotional; one's real, the other's a figment of the imagination. Although I'm sure someone will agree it's completely the other way around.


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## lunai (Feb 22, 2014)

I think of physical pain as much worse. I can usually reason away mental pain by simply changing my perception. If not that, there any many other solutions available to help reduce or eliminate it. Perhaps I have learned to cope with it and built an immunity to it. But there's no such reasoning with physical pain. And physical pain can be extremely intense. 

One of the worst things I can imagine is suffering with a serious long term physical disease that has no known cure or solution, and makes living every day painful or a struggle. Or a degenerative disease that forces you to witness your own body and ability to function slowly deteriorate before your eyes.


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## Grandmaster Yoda (Jan 18, 2014)

lunai said:


> I think of physical pain as much worse. I can usually reason away mental pain by simply changing my perception. If not that, there any many other solutions available to help reduce or eliminate it. Perhaps I have learned to cope with it and built an immunity to it. But there's no such reasoning with physical pain. And physical pain can be extremely intense.
> 
> One of the worst things I can imagine is suffering with a serious long term physical disease that has no known cure or solution, and makes living every day painful or a struggle. Or a degenerative disease that forces you to witness your own body and ability to function slowly deteriorate before your eyes.


I think the same way. I happened to witness my cat dying. I was focused on her weakness and inability to stand. I always see that as worse than emotional pain that can be thought away (assuming you know that you can just reason your way out instead of holding onto if forever).


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## lunai (Feb 22, 2014)

Grandmaster Yoda said:


> I think the same way. I happened to witness my cat dying. I was focused on her weakness and inability to stand. I always see that as worse than emotional pain that can be thought away (assuming you know that you can just reason your way out instead of holding onto if forever).


Same here. I saw my cat dying of pancreatic cancer, which is said to be one of the most painful types of cancer. It's also very fast moving, and he died 3 days after being diagnosed. But even though it was (mentally) painful for me seeing him in pain and not be able to help, I'm sure the physical pain that the cat felt must have been 10x worse than anything I was experiencing. I actually regret that we did not give him euthanasia early on to prevent 2 days of prolonged suffering.


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## VinnieBob (Mar 24, 2014)

it varies for most individuals but for me emotional pain is eternal and physical pain is temporary

edit- I live with physical pain everyday and have grown accustomed to it


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## L'Enfant Terrible (Jun 8, 2014)

To me physical pain is worse because I've been through a lot of emotional pain in the past and now I'm quite immune to it.
I can easily not think about the "emotional pain" but will stay in bed miserable if in physical pain.
However, there are exceptions to the rule, as always.


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## Monsieur Melancholy (Nov 16, 2012)

I will definitely say at this point that physical pain is much worse, having been in a lot of it.

I would much rather be majorly depressed for two weeks than go through an hour of having a kidney or gall stone.


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## Word Dispenser (May 18, 2012)

I don't think the two are necessarily mutually exclusive, as it's implied.

With the exception of trivial pain such as burns, blisters, bumps and bruises-- Emotional/psychological pain tends to go hand-in-hand with physical pain. Aka trauma.

Therefore, it's entirely dependent upon your definition of _how _painful the emotional vs. physical pain is-- Context.

And if the emotional pain is disconnected from the physical pain (if that's even possible, if we're comparing extreme cases. Depression, anxiety, bi-polar disorder, a break-up, etc., all manifest in physical ways.)

In the case of _minor _physical pain vs. _minor _emotional/psychological pain, I'd say they're about even.

Let's say the physical pain is moderate now... So.. A broken toe. Vs. moderate emotional/psychological pain. So... What? How do you even measure that?

Do you see the issue?

Define what you mean by emotional/psychological pain, and physical pain.

If you mean they're both extreme-- The most painful they could possibly be-- Then they're equal, because when experiencing emotional/psychological/physical pain of that magnitude, _all _of these variables become factors in the equation:

You'd experience all of these _at the same time_, in any supposed 'singular case'. So, comparing them becomes irrelevant.


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## Belzy (Aug 12, 2013)

lunai said:


> I think of physical pain as much worse. *I can usually reason away mental pain by simply changing my perception.* If not that, there any many other solutions available to help reduce or eliminate it. Perhaps I have learned to cope with it and built an immunity to it. But there's no such reasoning with physical pain. And physical pain can be extremely intense.
> 
> One of the worst things I can imagine is suffering with a serious long term physical disease that has no known cure or solution, and makes living every day painful or a struggle. Or a degenerative disease that forces you to witness your own body and ability to function slowly deteriorate before your eyes.


I wish I had that skill.

There are people who literally hurt themselves (self-cutting) to have distraction from their suffering (mental pain). And then we are talking about serious physical pain which they prefer over their mental pain. You say physical pain can be extremely intense, well, mental pain can be as well.


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## jamaix (Sep 20, 2013)

I can only answer for myself based upon the things I have experienced at this point in my life.

I voted emotional but only slightly. 

My last child was delivered by emergency c-section and I was in really bad pain for several weeks but it did pass and I got a beautiful baby out of it. So the pain was temporary and with a reward for enduring. Not all physical pain has a reward at the end of it though.
My son got a hold of a freshly poured cup of steaming hot coffee when he was just 2. It spilled all down his chest and was only prevented from going further by the diaper he was wearing. The burns were so bad the skin fell off. He was admitted into ICU at a children's hospital for about 4 days and even though I didn't experience the physical aspect of it his screams were horrendous. I was told it was the worse pain you could through and still survive. He had to go through therapy to prevent the new skin from drawing up and to be evaluated for skin graphs. As horrible and painful as it was he recovered and you really can't even see the scars today. He is a teenager now.

Emotional pain can stay with you for years or even the rest of your life. No one can see it so they think you are fine. There are no quick fixes. Only time can heal and sometimes even time fails to produce improvement. Emotional pain/scars can haunt you the rest of your life. Literally being there every waking moment. It can take over your life. It can shape your decisions. I have things that occurred in my life more than 30 years ago that still haunt me. I wish I could get rid of them, get rid of the pain.

However, my opinion that emotional pain is slightly worse may be based upon the fact that I have not experienced the type of debilitating pain that never ends that some must deal with. The really painful events that I have experienced to date have had an end. I do feel compassion for those who have unending excruciating pain that has been with them for decades. I know that if I continue to live and age I may very well have a different answer for this question.


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## DarkSideOfLight (Feb 15, 2011)

There are both essential if you want to become stronger.


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## Guest1234 (Jun 3, 2014)

Physical pain. Emotional pain is something you can learn to cope with and get rid off altogether. However, with physical pain, you have no direct control over how long it will last.


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## mikan (May 25, 2014)

physical pain > emotional pain


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## IncoherentBabbler (Oct 21, 2013)

Physical pain "feels" worse but emotional pain likely has more long-term damage potential. I'm good at blocking out emotional problems to the point that I've even forgotten some things in the past as a result. So it certainly doesn't feel worse if it can be easily numbed. On the other hand, I complain quite a bit about minor physical problems. I hate needles, stupid tags on clothes, etc. It even takes me a while to get over a stubbed toe (but not an open wound for some reason).


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## Chiaroscuro (Jul 10, 2012)

I pegged emotional pain as somewhat worse. Here's why.. I suffer from chronic knee pain due to an illness that I won't name here, I'm even reduced to limping sometimes and I can't fully straighten my left leg. It's debilitating but there's never been a time that physical pain has really destroyed my life, as I'm sure is the case for some people. But if you look at the amount of people who take their own lives you can see why emotional pain is much worse.


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## rambleonrose (Mar 5, 2012)

Emotional, always for me. It takes me 10x to heal then it seems it takes for others..


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## Camsam66 (Aug 5, 2014)

Well it depends on a variety of factors.

Generally I think physical pain is worse. Have you ever broken a bone, it hurts a shit ton!

I think emotional pain is more stressful because it can last for a long time. However physical pain is more horrifying.


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## CaptainShawnee (Oct 11, 2013)

I have a low pain tolerance, and I'll go to great lengths to avoid physical pain. I hate getting shots, not because of the needle, but because I can feel the liquid going into my muscle. I'd rather take my chances, and if someone tells me that a certain booster shot feels like cold lead going into the muscle... I make a strong note to avoid the hell out of it.

Emotional pain I can handle. Oh I can handle emotional pain. I'd rather be depressed for the rest of my life than in physical pain.


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## lunai (Feb 22, 2014)

AAD said:


> I wish I had that skill.
> 
> There are people who literally hurt themselves (self-cutting) to have distraction from their suffering (mental pain). And then we are talking about serious physical pain which they prefer over their mental pain. You say physical pain can be extremely intense, well, mental pain can be as well.


I think the 'skill' is simply an acceptance of the negative things which happen, and letting go of an emotional connection to them. But it may also involve brain chemistry. I used to have clinical depression for years but I corrected it with things like exercise, vitamins and nutrition. 

Some people may also be less sensitive to physical pain than others. There are people who've taken their own lives because they are suffering physical pain for a long time. Others have taken their lives due to mental pain. When someone is suffering that much mental pain there is a severe chemical imbalance involved, but there are ways of treating that.


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## Chiaroscuro (Jul 10, 2012)

lunai said:


> I think the 'skill' is simply an acceptance of the negative things which happen, and letting go of an emotional connection to them. But it may also involve brain chemistry. I used to have clinical depression for years but I corrected it with things like exercise, vitamins and nutrition.
> 
> Some people may also be less sensitive to physical pain than others. There are people who've taken their own lives because they are suffering physical pain for a long time. Others have taken their lives due to mental pain. When someone is suffering that much mental pain there is a severe chemical imbalance involved, but there are ways of treating that.


I agree with this. Having broken three bones, lived for years with a bone tumor and suffered a ruptured lung, I can agree that physical pain can do a lot to the psyche. But my point is that the emotional pain resulting from such physical pain is what causes the depression. Actual pain is a simple physiological response, our reaction to both types of pain complicates the scenario.


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## lunai (Feb 22, 2014)

Chiaroscuro said:


> I agree with this. Having broken three bones, lived for years with a bone tumor and suffered a ruptured lung, I can agree that physical pain can do a lot to the psyche. But my point is that the emotional pain resulting from such physical pain is what causes the depression. Actual pain is a simple physiological response, our reaction to both types of pain complicates the scenario.


I agree, it can be difficult to separate mental pain and physical pain. A physical disease can affect the mental health and vice versa. 

Still, for me I think pure physical pain is worse than pure mental pain. I could handle being intensely depressed for an hour better than an hour of pain from a toothache or headache.


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## Belzy (Aug 12, 2013)

lunai said:


> I agree, it can be difficult to separate mental pain and physical pain. A physical disease can affect the mental health and vice versa.
> 
> Still, for me I think pure physical pain is worse than pure mental pain. I could handle being intensely depressed for an hour better than an hour of pain from a toothache or headache.


If only depressions last just one hour.


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## lightsandloudnoises (Mar 16, 2014)

You experience emotional pain physically, ie when you feel negative feelings in the pit of your stomach, or experience happy joyous emotions in your chest.

Where do you draw the line between physical and emotional pain? 

My less pedantic answer is whichever subsides faster.


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## Darkbloom (Aug 11, 2013)

Emotional pain is worse,but I'd definitely rather suffer emotional pain than physical pain.I just get over emotional pain more easily and I forget about it quickly,it's not that difficult to control.I can feel so hopeless and suicidal,but I can look at the positives,talk to someone,do something to stop me from thinking about it.There's not much you can do about physical pain.


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## stiletto (Oct 26, 2013)

Physical pain. 

I am tough emotionally, I can take a lot more with my mind.


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## Sharpnel (Aug 3, 2014)

I can withstand emotional pain. So I will have to go with physical. Both are equally horrible, though.


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## something987 (Jul 20, 2014)

I think a better question is, what is worse, poor mental health or poor physical health? In my experience, having been to the extremes on both, physical is worse, because there is an emotional component attached to being unable to physically function like others normally can.


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## Clyme (Jul 17, 2014)

I'm not actually sure really.

I've been used to dealing with emotional pain in my past, so I handle it much easier. Physical pain isn't so manageable for me. My threshold for it is rather low. I can't really say though, because whereas emotional pain has probably driven me off the deep end in the past, I don't think I could handle a lot of physical pain.

It's hard to say.


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## HFGE (Jul 19, 2014)

It's a false dichotomy, they're both equally bad and anyone perpetrating either should be punished.

That's like asking which is worse, torture or psychological abuse.


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## Cotillion (Mar 26, 2013)

with all the beheadings and crucifixions going on in the iraq right now, it seems almost unfair that emotional pain is winning

just watch some executions performed by the islamic terrorists
maybe when you'll see someone's throat being cut back and forth with an unsharpened knife you'll change you mind


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## Tahaa (Nov 1, 2014)

If I were to judge on the pain itself, not how long it lasts/whether it scars etc, then I'd say physical pain. I've never thought "I'd rather be dead than feel this pain any longer" about emotional pain (however, I may have never felt emotional pain to the extent of others), whereas I have most certainly wished for death/unconsciousness while in physical pain. 

-INTJ female


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## Preciselyd (Mar 18, 2018)

I voted Emotional pain. But then I'm thinking Physical pain.


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## Librarylady (Mar 11, 2017)

Depends, I'd only consider physical pain worse if it was long and slow torture.

For the vast majority of situations, I'd vote emotional pain. I have had both chronic pain and clinical depression, but the depression was worse. It made me lose all will to do anything I enjoyed. I am still able to do certain things I enjoy with chronic pain, even if it sucks. I have a high pain threshold in general though. I've broken a few bones and became completely confused why some people think even that is worse than emotional pain....I didn't find that experience to be that painful at all, and it made me think others were just overreacting after I actually lived through it. 

Thing is that everything is so individual and situational. I'm sure many people might think I was a wimp for not handling depression, but someone else could think you were the wimp for not handling physical pain. It's all about individual tolerance levels.


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## LindsyClarke80s (Mar 30, 2018)

Physical pain


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## Vivid Melody (Apr 25, 2011)

I can handle emotional pain of any kind and come out the other end fine. I hate physical pain though and fear it to some degree. I can tolerate some kinds well but in other ways, I have a low pain tolerance. I hate being physically uncomfortable in general though.


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## DeadOutside (Mar 2, 2018)

I consider physical pain to be worse even though I am severely depressed.


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## shameless (Apr 21, 2014)

I would rather go through most miscellaneous versions of emotional pain than any extreme physical pain, at least most cases


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## SilentScream (Mar 31, 2011)

Sensational said:


> I would rather go through most miscellaneous versions of emotional pain than any extreme physical pain, at least most cases


I was wondering if ESTP's had this aversion to physical pain compared to emotional pain. 

-----

I've talked a little bit about this in the forum recently but in 2003 I had a massive bike accident (go figure) which destroyed my left leg and left me incapable of any kind of sporting activity since. I did fight and try to rehab it till about 2008 when I fell again and re-injured it after which doctors told me that they would have to do 2 more operations just to undo the other operations and then 2 more (for a grand total of 8 operations) and I just couldn't do it. 

I'm still fighting tho lol. I restructured my life as a partially disabled man and just muscling through - day by day. 

I still sometimes have dreams of myself rollerblading, or running, or going on adventures like I used to IRL and I don't want to wake up when I do.


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## Cal (Sep 29, 2017)

Physical pain


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## Judson Joist (Oct 25, 2013)

Emotional pain is way worse. I split my head open once where I used to work, took eight staples to the scalp without anesthetic, and went right to work within the hour. Still have a scar from it, but it's nothing compared to the psychological scars I still have from that work environment. And the ones that came after it. And the ones that came before it for that matter.


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## WickerDeer (Aug 1, 2012)

It depends on where the pains are.

Physical pain in my head is going to be different than physical pain in my foot--at least for me. 

Physical pain or emotional pain due to serious injury and loss are going to be worse than physical or emotional pain for stuff that can heal quickly. 

I would say I tend to cope better with physical pain than emotional pain, if it is just something 'small.' I tend to be more sensitive to emotional pain and less to physical pain, when it comes to little things.


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## Electra (Oct 24, 2014)

Generally speaking emotional; physical pain tend to fade and be forgotten...


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## shameless (Apr 21, 2014)

Reap said:


> I was wondering if ESTP's had this aversion to physical pain compared to emotional pain.
> 
> -----
> 
> ...


Well my heart goes out to you
My favorite area I have worked in health care is by far physical therapy which means encountering a lot of what you discuss
My fave thing is rollerblading actually so when you put that like that it definitely adds perspective


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## Rong Wong (Feb 16, 2018)

I chose emotional pain being somewhat worse because it has a greater effect on my peace of mind. I live in my head and don't want anything to upset the fine balance I've established over the years.

I was born with a few painful deformities in my spine and rib cage that have taught me to ignore pain to a certain extent.


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## Jaune (Jul 11, 2013)

I find emotional pain a lot easier to deal with than physical pain.


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## danthemanklein (Mar 30, 2018)

Both can be really shitty to deal with, but if I had to choose, I would definitely go with emotional pain all the way.


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## blackpussy (Apr 6, 2018)

Emotional pain.

Whenever i bleed myself, i don't mind.

When i bleed my emotions, it lasted longer


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## Lakigigar (Jan 4, 2016)

Physical pain can be really bad, but sometimes the emotional pain of imagining physical pain might even be worse, but i think being inflammated, or burned alive must be really painful. I however didn't had to experience physical pain in a really, really, really long time and if i did experience physical pain, it usually went over pretty quickly. But i'm afraid of suffering from intense physical pain.

Currently, i almost suffer daily from emotional pain, and it's hard. It wants me to kill myself, so i'm going to say that emotional pain is much worse than physical pain, but mainly because of the frequency and the durability.


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## Lakigigar (Jan 4, 2016)

Reap said:


> I was wondering if ESTP's had this aversion to physical pain compared to emotional pain.
> 
> -----
> 
> ...


That's also mostly emotional pain.

If they tortured you and cut your eyes out. what's going to be worse. The severe pain of your eyes being cut off... or that you'll never be able to see again. I'm not looking forward to both ideas i guess. One is really painfull but second is what you carry for the rest of your life.

Life sucks.


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## Lakigigar (Jan 4, 2016)

I've seen people answering "i rather had be in depression for the rest of my life than suffering from physical pain". I'm honestly not sure if those people really know what depression is. I'm thinking of killing myself almost every day. I'm considering exposing myself to physical pain, while i'm even fearful of that.

Physical pain can be really, really, really bad, but the extreme cases tend to be rather rare fortunately, though we all suffer from physical pain from time to time, but the anticipation for physical pain might be worse than enduring it.

Compare it with getting an injection. We don't like to get an injection, but the injection itself isn't that bad after all. I also think our emotions and emotional pain can dictate / control physical pain to some part, though you'll need a strong mind for that. But if you're an optimistic person, you'll might feel less pain than when you have a pessimistic attitude about a certain event.

The most painful physical thing i've experienced in my life is probably appendicitis (and it's also being widely seen as a painful thing), but to what i've experienced from mental & emotional pain, i think the difference is huge. But i agree i might not have suffered from severe physical pain in my life yet (what makes me fearful of it). I'm not sure if i have a high pain threshold. I don't know.


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## PiT (May 6, 2017)

Having dealt with both, I have to go with physical pain hands down. Emotional pain is no fun, mind you, but it is usually possible to find respite through some activity that distracts you from it. Even moderately severe physical pain offers no respite; it is an intense searing that forces its way to the front of your mind at every waking minute. A toothache has a debilitating immediacy easily on par with a depressive episode, and there are worse yet bodily pains.


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## Agent X (May 23, 2017)

I would argue emotional pain is more painful than the latter. Theoretically speaking, physical pain passes after an X time, while emotional pain has greater *potential * to linger after time heals the wound. And unlike physical pain, it could have a variety of after-effects not relatable to the physical pain - mental conditions both physical and internal to name one.

If I were to bring another analogy into this, if physical pain was hot, everywhere at once and non-lingering, then emotional is the cold variety - cold, precise and cutting to the bone which stays with you for years after. One pain stays, the other pain goes. In short, both pains hurt, and being intimately familiar with the emotional pain (pun not intended) I argue, emotional is more painful than physical based on the analogies provided.


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## Lunacik (Apr 19, 2014)

Subjective / Relative to severity of each.


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## Coffeh (Jan 30, 2018)

Both are one and the same, "emotional pain" is just when your muscles tighten, and when your skin gets soft.


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## Sybow (Feb 1, 2016)

Emotional pain, because it scars you for life.

Physical pain is temporarily.


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## Librarylady (Mar 11, 2017)

Lakigigar said:


> I've seen people answering "i rather had be in depression for the rest of my life than suffering from physical pain". I'm honestly not sure if those people really know what depression is. I'm thinking of killing myself almost every day. I'm considering exposing myself to physical pain, while i'm even fearful of that.
> 
> Physical pain can be really, really, really bad, but the extreme cases tend to be rather rare fortunately, though we all suffer from physical pain from time to time, but the anticipation for physical pain might be worse than enduring it.
> 
> ...


To be fair, it looks like emotional pain is winning the poll.

But I completely agree. I can understand physical pain being worse if we're talking about decapitation or being held prisoner for 40+ years, being burned every single day. But when I see examples like broken bones, toothaches/headaches, having your foot run over, etc....I'm just like, seriously? Those things are worse than depression? 

I have a true high pain threshold, which is especially uncommon for my gender apparently. I usually try to be as empathetic as possible, but sometimes it's a bit harder for me to put myself in the shoes of someone that scared of physical pain. I see people complain about these things and it just comes off as wimpy to me, I guess because I don't feel pain to the degree they do. I have some pretty serious chronic pain conditions too, so I know what real severe physical pain is to the extent most people will never understand, and I still prefer it over depression.


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## Lakigigar (Jan 4, 2016)

Librarylady said:


> To be fair, it looks like emotional pain is winning the poll.
> 
> But I completely agree. I can understand physical pain being worse if we're talking about decapitation or being held prisoner for 40+ years, being burned every single day. But when I see examples like broken bones, toothaches/headaches, having your foot run over, etc....I'm just like, seriously? Those things are worse than depression?
> 
> I have a true high pain threshold, which is especially uncommon for my gender apparently. I usually try to be as empathetic as possible, but sometimes it's a bit harder for me to put myself in the shoes of someone that scared of physical pain. I see people complain about these things and it just comes off as wimpy to me, I guess because I don't feel pain to the degree they do. I have some pretty serious chronic pain conditions too, so I know what real severe physical pain is to the extent most people will never understand, and I still prefer it over depression.


I haven't experienced much physical pain, mostly because i'm careful and lucky i guess. Except for my appendicitis, though two days before i went to hospital, i was still footballing with a very high intensity, and i was doing well. I actually forgot how severe the pain was. It was sometimes painful, but it also has periods where you don't feel anything of it, so the pain was more episodic. I think in many cases severe pain is episodic from nature. You'll experience pain. You get some rest. And the pain returns. I remember the morning i woke up i had a lot of pain, but at the doctor, i didn't had pain (except if she pressed on it). Later i got again pain, but than it went away again, and it's always like that.

I'm afraid of breaking bones, mostly because i've never experienced it. And if you don't know what it is, and hear all the painful stories of other people, it will frighten me. I'm also afraid of a bee sting, but when i get one, the fear will probably go over (or not, if it turns out to be really, really, really bad!).

I'm even not sure if decapitation is that painful. It looks painful, it looks horrible and terrible, but it might be overrated since you tend to die quickly i guess, especially if done in the right way, it's quickly lethal with almost immediate loss of conscience. I'd prefer to be decapitated than to experience cluster headaches i guess.

When i was very young (3 years old?), my dad also said that i touched a barbed wire that was highly electrified... but it didn't do anything to me, and i ran into a field where horses were... My dad had to chase me, and he touched the wire assuming it wasn't electrified... but apparently it was!

My got a severe moto accident when i was 1.5 years and i was in the back, and i almost died (critical) and i got a fractured skull, so i might have had pain than... but i don't remember anything, but my dad says that my skull grew not perfectly afterwards.

During my suicide attempt four years ago, i also poisoned myself with castor beans and ricin (the same stuff they've used in Breaking Bad and when they tried to kill Barack Obama with a letter), but i also survived a pretty high dose of it. I still don't know how i've survived it. Only very few people worldwide must have survived the dose i've took. There are known stories of people who died after eating one bean. I did eat more than 20 beans. The vomiting was quite painful or yeah quite severe (and might have saved my life), but i vomited so much that i felt i was going to suffocate because i didn't had time to breathe anymore.

And of course, i got hit often as a kid, because i was being abused as a child, so i might have gotten used to pain at a certain time. But i'm not sure if my pain threshold is low or high. I've not been sick for years. I've not experienced pain in a very long time, except if i have to go the toilet pretty quickly since my intestines are quite sensible (but that's pain that is almost over in 15 to 30 minutes at max.). I've also experienced a lot of muscle spasms in my toes that were quite painful (but not that painful, and maybe more frightening, because it's like i lose my sense in them when i get a spasm, and i have a reflex grabbing them immediately (because like they're mis placed or so, and i'm setting in a correct stand again, it always feel like that), but the character of the muscle spasms have changed a bit. When i have spasms now there, i don't have to grab them, but they still feel like numb, and they last longer. It's some kind of numb spasm.


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## Blacteco (Oct 9, 2016)

Physical pain creates emotional/mental pain. Like burnt alive (Not dead) or getting abused by abusive partner. You'll get both pain.


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## Librarylady (Mar 11, 2017)

Lakigigar said:


> I haven't experienced much physical pain, mostly because i'm careful and lucky i guess. Except for my appendicitis, though two days before i went to hospital, i was still footballing with a very high intensity, and i was doing well. I actually forgot how severe the pain was. It was sometimes painful, but it also has periods where you don't feel anything of it, so the pain was more episodic. I think in many cases severe pain is episodic from nature. You'll experience pain. You get some rest. And the pain returns. I remember the morning i woke up i had a lot of pain, but at the doctor, i didn't had pain (except if she pressed on it). Later i got again pain, but than it went away again, and it's always like that.
> 
> I'm afraid of breaking bones, mostly because i've never experienced it. And if you don't know what it is, and hear all the painful stories of other people, it will frighten me. I'm also afraid of a bee sting, but when i get one, the fear will probably go over (or not, if it turns out to be really, really, really bad!).
> 
> ...


I felt the same way about broken bones before I went through it. It was terrifying to think of how painful it would be! Then I actually broke one, and I thought...."That's it?"
From experience, they really aren't all that painful, especially if you have appendicitis to compare it to (way worse). There was a slight pain from my experience, but not the way people describe it. I was expecting to feel an excruciating amount of pain, but instead it was more of a "Huh...this is slightly uncomfortable, whatever" feeling. I honestly thought I had just sprained it until I felt a hole, like something was missing. That's the only way I knew as I assumed that breaking a bone would hurt...like "hurt hurt" and not just feel moderately uncomfortable. So you're entirely correct, we only fear physical pain because of the stories, and a lot of the more severe pain comes from building up fears in our head.

You might be right about decapitation, I can think of really severe physical pains but they haven't been listed here yet. Well, and a cluster headache is a lot worse than a normal headache too. 

Thing is when you are suicidal, the emotional pain is so bad that you are willing to put yourself in serious physical pain. That says a lot.


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## Krayfish (Nov 3, 2015)

Physical pain can be really bad, but I've never thrown up because of physical pain. Emotional pain though... :/


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## Jeremiahgirl (Jan 30, 2015)

I struggle with Rheumatoid Arthritis and the pain can be very intense. I’ve had depression in the past too. By far I believe the emotional (pain) is troubling. I hate depression and any emotional struggle; it zaps one of clear thinking and can linger for days, months and years. Physical pain can be alleviated with medication, depression can’t (unless one uses daily medication and therapy.) This process is way too long to endure.  I don’t like emotional stress.  and unfortunately many are carrying a lot around with them in the world. 


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## MayFlowers (Apr 19, 2018)

From my point of view, I’d say emotional pain is much worse than physical pain because with physical pain, often, something can be done to fix it/help you cope with it, etc. but for emotional pain, the path forward is sometimes unclear. Furthermore, emotional pain is very confusing sometimes while physical pain is something you expect to experience- it’s part of the package of life. If the question was, “Which is scarier?”, I’d say physical pain is scarier. When a part of your body hurts very badly, it is often very scary because 90% of the time, you don’t know exactly _what_ is happening.


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## LonelySpaceEmperor (Jan 4, 2018)

The potentiality of physical pain and its implication is in my opinion far worse than that of emotional pain; to a degree where the idea of it starts causing emotional pain.


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## crazitaco (Apr 9, 2010)

Personally for me physical pain is worse merely because I haven't experience a lot of physical pain and am a huge weenie, but I've weathered my fair share of despair, so I've learned coping mechanisms. And I think a lot of people making inequal judgements of physical and emotional pain. A severe enough physical injury can last just as long as some emotional pain. Keep in mind many injuries require physical therapy. The pain of depression might roughly be equal to losing an entire limb and the phantom pain that follows.


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## 545769 (Apr 3, 2019)

Emotional pain. 

But someone whose been chronically ill since childhood, mental and physical is very tied togther.


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## Turlowe (Aug 4, 2014)

Emotional pain is without question the more difficult for me to bear. Virtually every aspect of my life, from upbringing/background, lifestyle, career choices, hobbies etc. helped train me to deal with physical pain. I quit counting broken bones decades ago, the last one I had was a nightstick break on my left wrist and I never took any painkillers for it until the anesthesia for a surgery to put a plate in it 7 days later. 
Emotional pain however has been known to knock me flat, and those wounds heal far more slowly, when they heal at all.


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## 74893H (Dec 27, 2017)

Honestly I'd say physical pain for me. Emotional pain sucks but for some reason it doesn't actually bother me all that much, I'm pretty good at getting myself riled up over nothing and I'm quite emotionally impulsive so I think I'm just used to it. Whereas I'm a complete pussy when it comes to injury, that's a signal that there's something going on with my body that shouldn't be happening and that's SCARY man. I've never had any real significant injuries so I think it's a point of reference thing.


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## Lucan1010 (Jul 23, 2018)

Most physical pain can be dealt with relatively easily. Emotional pain takes time, and sometimes lots of it. That being said, stomach aches are awful. For me, they're the worst physical pain possible.


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## Rascal01 (May 22, 2016)

Physical pain more than emotional pain. 

Emotional pain can make you think you are going to die from the sheer agony of your mind and soul. You may wish for death, and the pain may haunt you for decades, even unto your actual physical death.

Physical pain may not only make you wish for death, it can cause you to realize that suicide is your only alternative to unending agony. The only question is how long you can delay when each heartbeat provides indescribable pain.

Surgery without functioning anesthesia is one example. It will make you beg your doctor for death. Uncontrolled and progressive rheumatoid arthritis is another experience that can be enlightening.


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## spellama (Apr 18, 2019)

Physical pain is hard, and possessive. But most of time, you can make it going away.
Emotional pain can go away, but nothing seems really sure : it is not physical, it is from nowhere.
But, in the same way, physical pain is more true. You can "fix" emotional (not always, but with time), but physical is very spiky.

Pain is pain, it's not always easy to make a sandwich with it.


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## angelfish (Feb 17, 2011)

Emotional pain, way worse.

I have a medical condition that makes me susceptible to a good amount of physical pain, but the depth and significance of the pain is different. Yes, the physical pain can be debilitating at its worst, but it doesn't really carry _meaning_ beyond that.

Though I also am just beginning to learn how to consciously, mindfully manage emotional pain... whereas I've had to consciously, mindfully manage physical pain for as long as I can remember. So maybe there is also an element of relative exposure and learning curve, for me.


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## ai.tran.75 (Feb 26, 2014)

Physical pain tends to tie in with emotional- fear- sadness- regrets 
Emotional pain can interfere with physical but not as much based on my observation 

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## Blazkovitz (Mar 16, 2014)

I voted for emotional pain because we have less control over it. In this day and age we have effective painkillers, so physical pain is not the nightmare it used to be. But silencing emotional pain is more difficult, there are antidepressants but they are addictive. You can also use alcohol, but it's dangerous too.


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## Jeremiahgirl (Jan 30, 2015)

I think in some ways they feed each other but I guess physical pain is tougher. 


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## flamesabers (Nov 20, 2012)

I think it depends on a person's emotional resiliency vs. how easily the physical pain can be treated. Severe depression can push people to commit suicide, but so can some forms of physiological pain such as "suicide headaches" (aka cluster headaches).


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## Introvertia (Feb 6, 2016)

Emotional pain is more difficult for me to to endure and/or numb, which shows I've had more troubles with mental stuff than physical. They often go hand in hand, though, depression can make you somatize and anxiety manifest itself in various physical ways, esp if prolonged.


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## Fennel (Jan 11, 2017)

The worst is feeling no pain at all.


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