The Positive Consequences of Pain

Abstract

Pain is mostly thought of as a problem-as debilitating or harmful. Despite its unpleasantness, however, under some conditions pain can be associated with positive consequences. In this review, we explore these positive biological, psychological, and social consequences of pain. We highlight three different domains in which pain may be considered to have positive consequences. First, pain facilitates pleasure by providing an important contrast for pleasurable experiences, increasing sensitivity to sensory input, and facilitating self-rewarding behavior. Second, pain augments self-regulation and enhancement by increasing cognitive control, reducing rumination, and demonstrating virtue. Third, pain promotes affiliation by arousing empathy from others, motivating social connection, and enhancing group formation. Drawing on evidence scattered across a range of academic fields, we provide for reflection on how pain is represented, generate insights into pain-seeking behavior, and draw attention to the role of painful experiences in maximizing positive outcomes.

An Evolutionary Perspective on Pain Communication

“…In such a situation, merely getting a diagnosis may alleviate suffering, because the pain is recognized as legitimate and the effort for making pain credible can be reduced (Steinkopf, 2015). All in all, research on affect, behavior, and cognition of pain observers (Bastian, Jetten, Hornsey, & Leknes, 2014;Goubert et al, 2005); research on the social modulation of pain (Decety & Fotopoulou, 2015;Krahé, Springer, Weinman, & Fotopoulou, 2013;Mogil, 2015); and research on pain malingering (Butcher, Arbisi, Atlis, & Mcnulty, 2003;Kucyi, Scheinman, & Defrin, 2015;Mendelson & Mendelson, 2004) could benefit from taking into account contextual factors that can enable or undermine pain's communicative function.…”

Resilience in farm animals: biology, management, breeding and implications for animal welfare

“…Rather, selection for resilience can be seen as a continuation of the genetic change associated with the process of domestication that has been occurring over several millennia (Price 1999;Mignon-Grasteau et al 2005;Canario et al 2013). A challenging concept arising from work on physiological regulation and affective states in animals and from work on resilience in rodent models and humans is the importance of what can be termed negative experiences in maintaining the dynamic responsiveness of the animal and in shaping its capacity to cope with challenges (Korte et al 2007;Russo et al 2012;Wu et al 2013;Bastian et al 2014). This leads to a formulation of good welfare that includes nurturing the capacity of the animal to cope with challenges that are intrinsic to its life history and that cannot be eliminated by other aspects of good housing, good breeding, good husbandry, good disease control and good climatic environment.…”

Pain Intensity, Headache Frequency, and the Behavioral Activation and Inhibition Systems

“…3 However, "biopsychosocial" models and treatments often focus more on psychosocial factors than biological ones; the "bio" piece of these models is often underdeveloped. [4][5][6][7] A greater focus on biological factors-in particular the role that central nervous system structures and processes play in experience of pain-may be used to inform the development of neuromodulatory interventions that could enhance the efficacy of psychosocial interventions, and help to better understand how psychosocial interventions influence pain. [8][9][10][11][12] Two neurophysiological factors that could potentially play an important role in pain and its effects on behavior are the behavioral inhibition and behavioral activation systems (BIS and BAS, respectively).…”