UPDATED: April 7, 2025
Welcome to the Healthy Living Is Good Medicine Newsletter, a totally free, health education publication covering a wide variety of topics, with original articles intended to help people lead healthier and more fulfilling lives.
In a previous article, I explored the universal, inescapable, human experience of pain, along with the perils of self-treatment using over-the-counter (OTC) analgesic medications:
In today’s article, I’ll be delving into the frequently related experience of suffering, and suggesting a number of ways for us to minimize or even prevent it.
Pain Versus Suffering
In modern medical facilities, pain is something to be studied, quantified on a scale of zero to ten, entered into patients' charts, and then treated with an impressive array of pharmacological, surgical, and psychological interventions. However, when we step outside the hospital or clinic setting and encounter the complexity of modern everyday life, our personal experience of pain becomes less precise, and our ability to effectively deal with it can be elusive.
Pain's presence is primarily physical, yet the emotional, psychological, existential, and even spiritual dimensions of pain can add a layer of suffering to the experience. Although the two terms are often used interchangeably, they actually refer to distinctly different phenomena.
Our perception of pain, and its less intense relative, discomfort, involves a neurophysiological response to harmful or noxious stimuli that activate specific pain receptors and sensory nerves. Pain alerts us to an injury or dysfunction, such as a laceration, burn, infection, or inflammatory reaction. Our instinctive response to pain serves a vital biological function, prompting corrective actions that protect our body from further harm.
Pain has an objectively observable component, and can usually be mitigated with treatment. The upside of pain is that it lets us know that we are still alive. With rare exceptions, a pain-free life is an unattainable fantasy, so we better get used to it and learn to deal with it constructively. The downside of pain is that it frequently precipitates a negative state of mind, along with maladaptive behaviors.
In sharp contrast to pain, suffering is almost entirely subjective and can persist even when a physical injury is no longer apparent. It can also occur without a prior physical injury. Suffering is a form of mental and emotional distress that can be a response psychological trauma, including threats, losses, social isolation and loneliness, anxiety, depression, and hopelessness.
Suffering is created by our beliefs regarding unpleasant experiences, along with our habitual emotional responses to those beliefs. As such, the degree to which we suffer often depends upon our personal interpretation of pain and its surrounding events, as well as its cultural context and the influences of our religious or spiritual beliefs.
Different people might experience the same physical injury, yet react to it in very different ways. Someone injured in a one-vehicle accident might accept their pain as a perfectly natural consequence of their injuries, and then get on with the task of healing. Another person with the same injuries caused by a driver running into their vehicle might view the accident as a personal affront, and react to it with anger or anguish.
Assuming the role of a victim tends to amplify pain and engender suffering, which frequently leads to retributive litigation. I spent a decade supervising a pain rehabilitation clinic, and learned firsthand that the pain and suffering of patients awaiting an insurance settlement showed little improvement, while those with nothing to gain financially healed quickly. It was obvious that accident victims didn't recover until their case was settled and a “green poultice” had been metaphorically applied.
Dealing with Suffering
The interrelationship of pain and suffering presents an important opportunity for preventive healthcare that often goes unaddressed. Suffering typically results from the stories that we tell ourselves about our discomfort and pain. Effective treatments involve recognizing those stories for what they are, and then consciously changing their narrative.
Some of those stories are based upon fears that the pain will never end. Our suffering can be compounded by the loneliness that we feel when no one else seems to care or understand what we are going through. As a result, we risk sinking into despair. Alternatively, we can endure an injury, heal from it, and emerge from the experience with greater resilience. The difference lies in our mind-set, which involves what we are thinking and how we process our feelings.
From this perspective, preventive medicine must foster the cultivation of resilience and take a holistic approach to developing emotional well-being. In recent years, Western medicine has become increasingly aware of this need. Outpatient clinics and wellness centers now routinely offer meditation and yoga classes, counseling services, and mindfulness programs, alongside the standard treatments. Practices such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), originally inspired by Eastern meditative traditions, have since been backed by decades of research showing their effectiveness in reducing both chronic pain and emotional suffering.
Psychologists have developed tools such cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) that can help people examine their underlying beliefs and reframe recurrent thoughts about their chronic pain. For example, a back injury might continue to hurt, but it doesn't have to limit your life and define you as a “back cripple.” A cancer diagnosis might come with a poor prognosis, but it don't have to result in despair.
The insights gained from appropriate psychological interventions can help people deal with an emotional crisis. The same strategies also useful for crisis prevention. Our ability to sit with discomfort, and respond thoughtfully and appropriately, rather than react irrationally and impulsively, is a learnable skill that can protect us. There is often a vicious cycle underlying stress-related illnesses. Psychological stressors have been implicated in everything from heart disease to autoimmune disorders.
Ancient Approaches to Relieving Suffering
Long before modern medicine recognized the mind-body connection, religious and spiritual traditions dealt with the problem of human suffering, and offered ways to deal with it. Christianity promotes the notion of redemption from original sin, as well as the nobility of suffering based upon the Easter story of crucifixion and resurrection. Consequently, Christians may view suffering as a test of their faith. Having their own “cross to bear” can be seen as a path to salvation.
Christians may find comfort in such beliefs, and rely upon their faith, prayers, and religious community for support. Through religion, they may experience a greater sense of meaning and purpose in life, especially when dealing with hardships. They may be more willing to accept, and even embrace suffering, when they believe its reward will be eternal bliss in heaven.
What is usually not addressed is the suffering of Christians who, nearing the end of their life, fear being turned away at the Pearly Gates. I have all too frequently witnessed, at the besides of dying patients, the torments of those who are wrestling with uncertainties about a less desirable destination in the afterlife. I consider myself most fortunate to have been immunized with scientific skepticism against any such metaphysical dilemmas.
In contrast to Christianity, Buddhism doesn't elevate or reward suffering, but rather seeks to eliminate it. The Buddhist belief system's first “Noble Truth” declares that ordinary life is marked by suffering, dissatisfaction, and dis-ease. This is not a pessimistic perspective, but rather a compassionate one that calls attention to the necessary healing task at hand.
Buddhism teaches that suffering is not a punishment, nor is it inevitable. Suffering is seen as a result of ignorance about the psychological and spiritual effects of attachments, aversions, and resistance to changes. Suffering is therefore something that can be overcome through self-discipline and ethical conduct, guided mental training, and the incremental attainment of inner wisdom through meditation.
Both Buddhism and cognitive psychotherapy place an emphasis upon present moment awareness, along with a suspension of judgments and the release of unhelpful or self-defeating narratives. The goal is not merely to end suffering, but also to acquire the means for transcending it.
How we perceive pain can deeply affect our overall well-being. Practicing mindfulness and implementing positive lifestyle changes can reduce suffering and recalibrate our response to pain. Speaking from personal experience, my many years of practicing mindfulness have enabled me to gain considerable protection against self-imposed suffering.
Modern Strategies to Relieve Suffering
Short-circuiting suffering involves interrupting the mental and emotional loops that can amplify our distress. There are a number of helpful methods that draw upon medical, psychological, and contemplative traditions.
Mindful awareness requires consciously recognizing the suffering, naming it, and then taming it. You can disengage from the spiral of “stinking thinking” by mentally saying, “This suffering is unnecessary.”
There’s a simple strategy for reducing emotional reactivity: Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and mentally label whatever you are feeling at that precise moment, bringing your awareness into the present.
Because much of suffering is interpretive and based upon the stories that we tell ourselves about what is happening to us, reframing the narrative can be beneficial. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and Buddhist spiritual philosophy both emphasize changing our relationship to our thoughts. We will want to examining them deeply, rather than blindly believing them. You can notice and identify any thoughts associated with suffering and ask yourself if they are true or helpful. Then, consider if there is a better way to experience your situation.
Whenever you notice that you are suffering, you can change your mental channel. Interrupt the cycle of negative thoughts and feelings by instigating physical activity, listening to music, or tuning in to comedy. These kinds of actions can reboot the nervous system and change our physiology from a fight-or-flight reaction to a more lighthearted and calmer state. Taking a brisk walk, or splashing cold water on your face, can work wonders for getting you out of your head and into your body.
Seeking out social support is one of the most reliable buffers against suffering. Talking to someone, asking for a hug, or even recalling fond memories of social interactions can down-regulate distress. Reach out to someone if you can, but if you can’t, close your eyes and picture someone who cares about you, allowing those good feelings to register in your body.
Suffering tenses our muscles, contracting the body and making our breathing shallow. Deliberately breathing slowly and deeply tells our body that we are safe now. You can always consciously use the breath to interrupt the physiological stress response. Simply inhale for a count of four, exhale for a count of six, and repeat this breathing pattern for a couple of minutes.
You can also practice what is known as “radical acceptance.” This doesn't mean giving up. It only involves saying to yourself, “This is how it is right now.” Using the metaphor of white-water rafting, instead of resisting the river, which you cannot control, just go with the flow and see if you can steer a better course through the rapids. Resisting reality stokes suffering, so remind yourself that immediate unpleasantness won’t last forever.
There are ways to transform suffering by having it become a teacher of sorts. Reframing the unpleasant experience as taking place within a more expansive context can reduce its intensity. You can try asking yourself, “What can I learn from this, and how can I grow from it?”
Suffering often results from our mental time-traveling, in which we relive the pains experienced in the past, or fear things that we imagine in the future. Instead, we can ground ourself in the present moment by paying attention to what is real, right here and right now. This is guaranteed to interrupt the head-tripping. This can easily be accomplished by engaging our senses. Touch something, and feel its texture. Listen for five different sounds. Look around, and see if you can notice three different colors. Be here, now.
Taking a More Holistic Approach to Prevention
We need to acknowledging that being in good health does not require the absence of pain, but rather having the necessary tools and techniques that will help us successfully navigate our way through it. Instead of compulsively pursuing comfort, perhaps we can learn to sit with any discomforts and observe them.
A headache might be simply a symptom of dehydration, or our body telling us that we made a mistake by taking on a project that we would have preferred to decline. Recurring stomach pains could be due to an ulcer, or our anxiety over a particular relationship. We can often find clues to the underlying subconscious causes if we look deeply within ourselves.
Healthcare systems would ideally attend not only to the body, but to the whole of the human experience. Primary care visits could include mental and emotional check-ups. Lifestyle counseling could cover more than diet and exercise, dealing with issues such as loss and grief, and whether or not the patient finding meaning in their life. Perhaps more insurance companies will recognize the value of providing coverage for meditation classes.
Personal health goes way beyond effectively waging war against disease. At its heart, preventive medicine involves establishing a healthier relationship with oneself. That relationship must include the things we usually try to ignore or avoid; our fears, our sadness, our pain, and our suffering. These are all part of our life's experiences, and when we accept them compassionately and in their entirety, they can become our helpful guides, rather than our enemies.
We are living in an amazing era when it comes to diagnostic tools and the analysis of health data. Our smart devices can track our physical activities monitor our sleep, and give us real-time feedback on our heart rate and blood sugar, but the most important health metrics may be invisible. They involve our capacity to endure hardships without breaking, our ability to find meaning in pain and discomfort, and our willingness to care for ourselves and others, despite any pain or suffering.
In preventive medicine, our goal is not just to avoid illness, but to also foster resilience, well-being, and long-term health. We focus upon the unhealthy things to avoid, as well as the healthy habits that we want to cultivate. However, the most powerful preventive modality that we have at our disposal could actually be a state of mental clarity, one that perceives pain accurately, engages suffering with compassion, and wholeheartedly embraces the mystery of being human.
― ― ―
These Posts can be updated at any time. Please check back here again to find the most up-to-date information.
You can find many more articles about Healthy Living in my Post Archive.
Please share my Website Link with others via your social media accounts. You can help your friends and followers become healthier by suggesting that they subscribe to my totally free Newsletter.