MENTAL HEALTH
Why Does Emotional Pain Hurt So Much?
It has a lot to do with how our society deals (or fails to deal) with it
When life deals us a blow, such as the loss of the loved one or emotional trauma, the pain can be excruciating and visceral. We can literally feel it in our body. Sensations, such as the feeling of breaking heart or walking around with a hole in our chest, are common.
Interestingly enough, it turns out that both physical and emotional pain are processed by the same centers in our brain. But although this can explain why emotional trauma hurts just like a physical one, that doesn’t mean that both types of pain are the same.
Emotional pain often hurts even more than physical injury. This is because it entangles a lot more than just a physical sensation and is thus more complex and harder to deal with.
Getting proper care and support can be a challenge
While physical wounds can be easily seen and cause everyone to fuss around us and get us to the ER asap, things are much different when it comes to emotional trauma.
Since emotional wounds aren’t visible, they tend to be brushed off.
