# Which one you think is worse: physical pain or mental pain?



## Secretaz (Sep 10, 2011)

Which one hurts you more?


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## Monotony (Mar 11, 2012)

It would depend on the level of physical pain compared to emotional but ill go with mental because it doesn't always heal as well as physical damage can.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

It drives me nuts when some jerk will say of mental problems: "it's all in your head." Yes, that is literally true, but then physical pain is all in your head too. How the hell do they think painkillers work? They attach to opioid receptors in your brain so you don't feel the pain -- again the pain exists only within your brain.

I'd like to explain how physical pain is "all in their head" after giving them a very hard kick to the groin. I think that might help them in understanding the matter.


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## leave me alone (Apr 1, 2011)

Worse is when the mental pain is so severe, that it grows into a physical pain.


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## Daniel C (Apr 17, 2012)

Mental pain, definitely. When I am in physical pain I can always eaze myself with the thought that tomorrow it will be over. But mental pain is like a dark tunnel without end. You can overcome physical pain with your mind, but for mental pain there is no lifebuoy.


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## hyejan (Feb 19, 2012)

both i dont like pain


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## BKrakow (Jul 8, 2010)

I voted both. not a fan of pain in general. and I think both can be equally debilitating. I have a chronic pain problem and it's really taken a toll on me.


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## Secretaz (Sep 10, 2011)

leave me alone said:


> Worse is when the mental pain is so severe, that it grows into a physical pain.


How does that happen? :eek


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## RandomObject (Aug 31, 2011)

It depends. Is it mental pain of SA vs having my arms ripped off? or a bee sting?


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## Lasair (Jan 25, 2010)

I used to cause myself physical pain to overpower the mental pain.


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## Monroee (Aug 26, 2009)

Depends when you're asking me. If my leg is being torn off by a chimpanzee (there's been another attack recently I heard), I would say physical pain is worse. But if you catch me on a day when I'm about to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge, I'd say mental is worse.


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## Luna Sea (Apr 4, 2012)

Janniffy said:


> I used to cause myself physical pain to overpower the mental pain.


IMO though, in that situation it's not *that much* physical pain compared to a lot of mental pain. Speaking as an ex-cutter.

I voted both, but I think I would take a minute of the worst mental pain over a minute of the worst physical pain, and if it was for a longer period I'd choose the physical pain, since you'd be able to get more used to it after a while. Both would probably leave long-lasting mental scars though.


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## losinghope (Mar 29, 2011)

I choose mental pain. But it depends on the situation. For me, I take painkillers for physical pain and mental pain. But, it only helps physical pain. Mental pain is the one that doesn't go away. It like a vicious cycle that is never ending. Also mental and physical pain can be very connected. For example, You are feeling very depressed, anxious you are less likely to be taking care of your body and health so that results in physical pain too.


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## kosherpiggy (Apr 7, 2010)

i said both, i kinda think mental though


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## JustKittenRightMeow (Jul 25, 2011)

I suppose it depends on what happened to cause physical pain. Although the mental pain I go through isn't as bad as it may be for some people, it still sucks so much. The physical pain usually subsides or you can take something like aspirin or other medicines to cover it up whereas mental pain just lingers and nags you. Sure, there might be meds for that too...but they most likely cost a fortune.


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## Nekomata (Feb 3, 2012)

Both <.< but if that wasn't an option, then I'd probably go for mental pain x__x


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## Innamorata (Sep 20, 2011)

I would take being depressed over giving birth any day.


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## SoWrongItsRight (May 9, 2012)

Mental pain


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## straightarrows (Jun 18, 2010)

Both,,, coz I've experienced them both!!! .....and BTW, I'm feeling some pain right now!!


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## Jinxx (May 10, 2011)

Depends.... I still choose Mental though. Physical pain is easier to heal than Mental pain on my behalf.


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## shelbster18 (Oct 8, 2011)

Innamorata said:


> I would take being depressed over giving birth any day.


I agree. It does depend how bad the physical pain is, though. So, I'd have to say that physical pain is worse. Any kind of mental pain would be better than being paralyzed or losing a body part.


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## Farideh (Nov 13, 2011)

Mental pain is the worst. Makes me feel like I really want to commit suicide which will never happen. No worries.


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## shelbster18 (Oct 8, 2011)

I would think that physical pain would cause me a lot of mental pain. If I got paralyzed, I would just lose it and go crazy. I'd want to be put out of my misery.


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## Luna Sea (Apr 4, 2012)

Being paralyzed is more mental pain than physical really anyway. But yeah, if you had a lifelong health condition that caused you intense pain every day for a lot of time, you'd crack mentally, I think.


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## shelbster18 (Oct 8, 2011)

TristanS said:


> Being paralyzed is more mental pain than physical really anyway. But yeah, if you had a lifelong health condition that caused you intense pain every day for a lot of time, you'd crack mentally, I think.


Yea, I get what you mean by it being more mental than physical pain. I've been depressed for years but I'd honestly rather go through that than any kind of physical pain. I turned out fine anyways. But then again, mental pain can make a person go crazy and then that in return can cause them to commit suicide. Most likely, suicide attempts aren't successful and then the person just ends up worse off than before.


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## leave me alone (Apr 1, 2011)

Secretaz said:


> How does that happen? :eek


Well, physical symphtoms of severe depression such as headaches, chest pain, back pain etc.


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## CoastalSprite (Sep 8, 2011)

I've experienced them both in varying degrees with each other the past few months. I thought mental pain would be worse, but honestly physical distress is pretty bad as well. I voted both.


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## fallen18 (Aug 25, 2011)

Mental


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## Ventura (May 5, 2009)

Comparing them and wanting to know which is worse on something so vague is not going to lead to anything with real results. Your asking this on a forum that will be most likely bias to the answer, too. It will lead to belittling feelings at the end.


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## MrQuiet76 (Aug 26, 2011)

UltraShy said:


> It drives me nuts when some jerk will say of mental problems: "it's all in your head." Yes, that is literally true, but then physical pain is all in your head too. How the hell do they think painkillers work? They attach to opioid receptors in your brain so you don't feel the pain -- again the pain exists only within your brain.
> 
> I'd like to explain how physical pain is "all in their head" after giving them a very hard kick to the groin. I think that might help them in understanding the matter.


You took the words right outta mouth with this post! Completely agree


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## Larkspur (Sep 30, 2009)

Mental, for me.
In my experience, most physical pain disappears after awhile. It is the mental pain that sticks around and eats me alive for years and years after the painful events actually occurred.


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## BobtheBest (Aug 27, 2011)

Mental pain.

Physical pain is temporary, mental pain can last for years.


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## millenniumman75 (Feb 4, 2005)

The MENTAL pain I am getting from reading this thread.
It's almost advisory time.


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## Venkska (Oct 29, 2011)

Mental pain is the harshest and most confusing and painful thing ever.


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## King Moonracer (Oct 12, 2010)

I dont know. You cant do anything about physical pain in the moment if its bad enough...if its like nerve damage or some weird disease, it would block the mental pain. But then, what is mental pain? PTSD? 

I see it pain here as relative to pleasure...physical pleasure can only go so far. Mental pleasure is potentially...well...infinite?


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## Meli24R (Dec 9, 2008)

BobtheSaint said:


> Physical pain is temporary, mental pain can last for years.


It's not temporary if you have a chronic condition or disease that causes pain. It could last your entire life. My aunt had a stroke and has had MS for over a decade and it isn't pretty. Also physical pain can cause mental pain. I'd be severely depressed if I could barely move, take basic care of myself and was in pain everyday.

There's such a wide range of pain. I chose both.
I'd simply prefer death over a severe life long physical or mental illness (that is not responsive to treatment) 
Quality is more important to me than quantity.


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## TigerRifle1 (Jan 25, 2012)

Mental pain. In my opinion the scars from mental or emotional pain seem for vulnerable to reopening then physical pain. Although if the physcial pain was caused by abuse it may surpass the mental pain in suffering potential.


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## Pennywise (Aug 18, 2011)

Physical. I can suppress someone making fun of my hair, but if they're beating me with a shovel, that could be a problem.


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## Secretaz (Sep 10, 2011)

Some of you are talking about losing body part and it would be worse than mental pain, but wouldn't it really cause you any mental pain if someone cut your hand off? I wouldn't care less about the physical pain that cutting hand off causes, I would only care about how I look without hand and how I could life without hand.


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## Luna Sea (Apr 4, 2012)

I'd say it'd be a lot easier to live with only one hand than with serious mental illness.


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## Joe (May 18, 2010)

Mental, but ive never had any serious physical pain.


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## RenegadeReloaded (Mar 12, 2011)

leave me alone said:


> Worse is when the mental pain is so severe, that it grows into a physical pain.


yeah, i was there, are u talking about when your rib cage seems to squeeze your lungs that u find it hard to breathe, and all your internal organs seems to ache as well ?

i got that when i was novice with depression and didn't knew that the best way to solve the problems that caused depression is not to focus on them and ruminate all day long, but to keep them out out your attention and distract yourself with something else.

back to subject, i think only torture like they did in the middle ages can be as painful as a panic attack or a state of mind that is close to it, like pure desperation and complete hopelessness where you can see only suicide as the only option to end the suffering

i've experienced physical pain too, i couldn't sleep night after night with all the painkillers and sleep pills that could put down a horse, so i know how this is too

there is a show on discovery where it presents different torture machines, if anyone interested look here, some of them are purely demonic: http://www.discoverychannel.ca/Article.aspx?aid=13430


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## scarpia (Nov 23, 2009)

BKrakow said:


> I voted both. not a fan of pain in general. and I think both can be equally debilitating. I have a chronic pain problem and it's really taken a toll on me.


I also voted both too. I also have chronic foot pain and chronic glossitis. 10 YEARS of foot pain and 6 years of glossitis. I wonder how many people on here have experienced long term chronic pain. I have and it can make you wish you were dead.


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## millenniumman75 (Feb 4, 2005)

Secretaz said:


> Some of you are talking about losing body part and it would be worse than mental pain, but wouldn't it really cause you any mental pain if someone cut your hand off? I wouldn't care less about the physical pain that cutting hand off causes, I would only care about how I look without hand and how I could life without hand.


I think there would be mental pain if somebody cut my hand off. If I survived, I would get the hand reattached and press charges on the bozo.

All of this is speculation, though.


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## wordscancutyoulikeglass (May 4, 2012)

I can take physical pain. It doesn't bother me much at all, but mental pain is the pain that hurts and makes me feel beaten & hurt, not physical. Mental pain haunts me, follows me, and advil cannot subside the torture.


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## Shauna The Dead (Jun 16, 2005)

I voted both....but really, I'm used to mental pain. Constant. Kinda gotten numb to that...so overall, physical I guess.


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## sean88 (Apr 29, 2006)

I've never been in serious physical pain before so I can't say, but I'm gonna go with mental. You can get wasted/take pain killers/do drugs, w/e to numb physical pain, but the only thing that helps mental is falling asleep, and sometimes I'll still have nightmares so it doesn't really matter.


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## i just want luv (Feb 13, 2011)

have you ever had a wicked dentist?
but then again mental controls you, and pain itself so I nominate Mental for best single of the year


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## iamwhoiam (May 14, 2012)

Mental by far. I've broken 6 bones in my body and had kidney stones 3 times. Sometimes kidney stones felt like there was a screwdriver being jammed and twisted around in your lower back/side while someone was kicking you in the crotch for 3-4 hours...
I would chose that over real mental anguish any day. 
'Cutters' even cut themselves to feel physical pain just to get rid of mental anguish. 
Most suicides are because of mental anguish. People who have been through only physical pain tend to come out stronger.


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## Famous (Sep 6, 2011)

TristanS said:


> I'd say it'd be a lot easier to live with only one hand than with serious mental illness.


It's an interesting perspective. Does this mean that the person has only one hand, or mental pain from birth, or does this mean that the loss of the hand is so traumatic as to cause PTSD, 
I think its a bit chicken and egg.
To make a point, I attempted suicide @ age 16 and failed, I dont even know why at the time, I went through a process of preparation and took some pills(this failed attempt is obviously some form of mental illness.) But I dont remember feeling extreme mental pain then.

Later in life I more or less lost the use of my left hand afer a car crash, the lower arm was mangled and had several wounds and multuiple compound comminuted fractures. It was so sore that I was screaming and asking the hospital staff to chop my arm right off(lucky for me they didnt)
Since then(30yrs) my arm is much improved, but I have developed severe stress anxiety and depression. 
I have a comparison of different types of pain,
They're both horrible, 

This morning I feel very depressed, and my frontal lobes are feeling like they are getting squashed, thats not "sore", but distressing. Like being pressed down by some giant hand.


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## LilianaAbby (Mar 27, 2010)

I would say it depends on the situation. But over the past few years I started self harming, so when I feel really depressed I want the physical pain as a distraction from my thoughts and feelings.


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## lad (Sep 26, 2011)

Mental pain easilly, I don't mind physical pain.


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## Cheskey (Jul 6, 2012)

Secretaz said:


> How does that happen? :eek


Stress can cause headaches, stomachaches... ect

I chose mental pain.


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## MidnightBlu (Jun 11, 2006)

Usually both. When I was in my depressed years, mental hurt more. Now that I'm not as depressed anymore, physical hurts more.


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## Glacial (Jun 16, 2010)

I would say they're both bad, just in different ways. The negative aspect to mental pain is that I think it might be more of an isolated suffering. People who have mental pain can look perfectly fine and move around fine, so people assume they're okay, but they have no idea the pain they feel emotionally.


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## Rossy (Jan 15, 2011)

I have both,lucky me.


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## DefendAll (Jul 12, 2012)

mental


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## catcharay (Sep 15, 2011)

Physical pain would be worse. Physical pain for me brings up connotations of torture, murder, unimaginable pain. That's so much worse to me than mental pain. 

The other day on a tv program, there was a story about women who have had acid being thrown on their face. It's very sad and I don't think I could bear the pain. Not to mention the disfigurement that would leave a permanent reminder.


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## ty44 (Jul 29, 2012)

That depends. I would rather break my leg than have somebody close to be die. I am pretty in touch with my emotions, so that would kill me.

But then I would do terribly under torture..


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## saltyleaf (Dec 30, 2011)

obviously mental pain. you're pretty much stuck w/ it for life unless you get therapy to "deal" w/ it. i wish i had more physical pain than mental, at least i could pop some pills & get on w/ my life.


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## TobeyJuarez (May 16, 2012)

id rather lose a finger than suffer a broken heart


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## Invisiblehandicap (Jul 31, 2011)

Mental pain. It takes years and years to heal, WITH effort.


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## Billius (Aug 7, 2012)

Janniffy said:


> I used to cause myself physical pain to overpower the mental pain.


been there done that... not going back
Mental pain by far. I don't feel much physical pain which is good because i seem to have persistent low level clumsiness and cause myself no end of small hurts.


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## Baiken (Sep 11, 2012)

Physical pain is no big deal compared to the other one.


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