A High Pain Threshold
Do You Hear?
Do you ever hear someone saying they’ve got a high pain threshold?
Is it something you’ve said yourself?
It’s interesting as I know I’ve thought it of myself, and I hear it from many patients. That attitude has its value in short-term moments of sporting endurance, workplace effort, and getting through intense situations that involve physical and emotional pain.
Sense of Reward
There’s a sense of reward for achieving whatever we did or surviving a situation by pushing through pain and not giving in to it. We often grow from that adversity and learn the short-term pain was worth pushing through for that enhanced perception of self that can follow. However, the caveat on the above is that it should only be a short term that we ever fly the flag of having a high pain threshold.
It’s a very energy-expensive physiological state and not sustainable.
So if you have persistent pain or hear it from someone else with it, and they say I’ve got a high pain threshold, I’d like to offer a different view to consider.
Why? Because it could be that statement which defines why they are stuck in the cycle of persistent pain.
A Badge Of Honour
If that person, who may appear to wear that ‘I’ve got a high pain threshold badge’ with pride, was asked to see that statement differently, it may offer a shift in perspective that could be a catalyst for recovery.
If I asked instead whether they were more likely to be unkind to themselves than most other people they know, how do you think they would answer?
If you believe you have a high pain threshold, do you state that because you consider you can cope with more pain than most other people you know?
Does having a high pain threshold mean you are less worthy of receiving care from yourself or others in the presence of pain?
If so, what is the basis for that belief, and where is its logic?
You Are Only Human
You are only human, and your skin will melt at the same temperature as all other humans, no matter how long you think you can hold your hand over the heat. And the same goes for the threshold at which your bodily systems will fail in the presence of a sustained level of neurochemical changes which come with excessive and prolonged periods of emotional distress.
Wearing that ‘high pain threshold’ badge with some false sense of honour or pride hides a vulnerability that all humans hold when trauma or overload appears.
Yes, some do have a resilience not found in others that shows they can push their physical, emotional and psychological capabilities beyond what others believe is possible for achievement, reward and survival.
But at what cost if they attempt to use the same behaviours for long-term patterns of behaviour?
More Vulnerable
It leaves them more vulnerable than others as they mistakenly believe they are more robust and validate that with that overused and misunderstood high threshold affirmation.
Perhaps research might one day investigate who in the population of those with persistent pain have or still do hold onto that statement as a validation that they don’t complain about the pain they’ve suffered or continue to experience.
But maybe that statement is a cry for help never heard by the person who states the words.
An Unconscious Message
Perhaps it’s an unconscious description that they put up with the pain because they don’t know and maybe have never learned how to approach pain other than through ignoring it, fighting it or pushing through it.
Creating a shift in perspective to help them see that it’s ok to ask for help and being vulnerable is more of a strength than they could ever have imagined.
That shift might allow a window of compassion to open where they can start to open their mind to possibilities of self-care and kindness whilst placing the ‘high threshold badge’ on the sideboard for a moment or two.
Why shouldn’t they have time to themselves after doing everything for everyone else?
Why should they have to justify that beyond any other reason than they are worth it? Because they are worth it.
The Human Experience
I believe that human existence was not one to be experienced without pain and suffering, but certainly not one that involved a life of persistent pain. If that is what life has become for you or someone you know, and the high pain threshold statement abounds, then it’s time to shift perspective in the time we all have left.
The change could mean a life free from persistent pain, but not from struggle, challenge and occasional pain. But recovery will always be available on the other side of the pain if the dogmatic behaviours of fighting pain swap for sensitive consideration about what truly lies behind the origin of the pain.
The Opportunity
The opportunity gap is a moment of thought that appears before the unconscious and habitual reactions that follow the high pain threshold belief. To save the badge for short-term use and take the opportunity to wear a different one used for moments or long-term stress and perhaps one to wear daily without any apparent strain.
Another to wear with pride and to show others the boundaries you set for yourselves, which place new lines in the sand for many situations in your life where crossing has unwittingly created your pain.
Be Proud Of Vulnerability
Showing and being proud of your vulnerability, whilst knowing you can dig deep when needed or if you choose to, gives a balance to your life that will shine out to others.
It will create a bolder and more inspirational message than the old ‘I’ve got a high pain threshold’ could ever do, and it won’t just be a badge; it will be you who is that badge and who no longer has persistent pain.
What’s next?
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