Up@dawn 2.0 (blogger)

Delight Springs

Thursday, April 6, 2023

The Unknowability of Other People’s Pain

Worth considering, as we begin Kieran Setiya's account of coping with chronic pain in "Life is Hard":

"…Something I didn't learn until after my father's suicide is that depression can cause chronic gastrointestinal torment, much as stress can cause back pain, or sadness can cause tears. I doubt that any doctor sufficiently explained that to my father. The mere suggestion that his suffering might have had a "psychosomatic" element made him protest that what was happening to him wasn't all "in his head." Of course not. And yet, the brain is as much part of the body as the gut. The brain not only perceives physical pain but can help trigger painful bodily responses, too..."

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/16/well/mind/gastrointestinal-pain-suicide-depression.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
The Unknowability of Other People's Pain

1 comment:

  1. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oYxbhWfteVWQpCblidTXKoyBtihjkapOSD1HVssfukg/edit#slide=id.g22b3a5f500c_0_0

    Google slide of william james by Lige Reasoner

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