The purpose of pain III: a Neurobiological Perspective.

My final venture in the pursuit of finding the purpose of pain was in the realms of neurobiology. By studying neurobiological literature, I finally obtained the concrete evidence I wanted to convince myself that pain is indeed necessary. It was quite beautiful to see how our body strives to adapt to novel situations in stabilizing itself to not only a healthy state but a more refined one. It was also quite interesting to find out how necessary pain was to induce this adaptability.

So, without any further ado, here is why neurobiology thinks pain is necessary. A fair warning: this article may be a bit more on the technical side. But I will try to explain it in a way that is understandable for everybody. So, bear with me.

1. Pain encourages empathy.

Neurobiological research has found a connection between pain and empathy.

A study conducted at Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany found that the brain regions that are activated during the experience of pain were similar to those that are activated when you experience another person going through something painful. This means that the areas for the processing of emotional pain and empathy in the brain are the same.

This builds the conclusion that those people who have gone through emotional pain in their life are more empathetic than those who haven’t as their regions of the brain involved in pain and empathy are not that active.

Therefore empathy, which is an emotion quite crucial to our society, is induced through pain.

2. It leads towards prosocial behavior.

Doubling down on the notion of empathy induced through pain, there is evidence that it also leads towards better community building.

Studies show that individuals who have experienced a fair amount of emotional pain in their life are more likely to engage in prosocial behavior. They have also been reported to have greater personal growth and make positive life changes.

This concludes that pain is necessary to build a healthy community as it produces healthy individuals with empathy and prosocial tendencies.

3. The brain is transformed by experiencing pain.

Before explaining this point, I’d like to explain the two ways the brain develops and becomes stronger: increased neuroplasticity and neurogenesis.

Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to form new neural connections and reorganize itself according to our experiences. While neurogenesis is the brain’s ability to form new neurons.

Studies have shown that the experience of emotional pain results in the release of neurochemicals like Glutamate and Brain Derived Neurotropic Factor (BDNF). These neurochemicals promote neurogenesis in the brain. They also increase the neuroplasticity of the brain.

Its interesting how something as unpleasant as emotional pain literally transforms the brain. It pushes the brain to change its already existing neural connections, physically inscribing experience into the brain. It also drives it to form new neurons and increase the mass of the brain to attain better cognitive abilities for the future.

4. Pain helps us develop better coping mechanisms.

Coping mechanisms are behavioral patterns we develop in order to endure challenging situations.

The formation of new neural connections in the brain are designed to help us cope better with emotional pain. When we use these coping mechanisms in real life, we strengthen these neural connections. As a result, they become a part of our normal response to painful events.

I’ll try to explain this with an example. Suppose you had to face rejection for the first time ever in life. Now you are left with two options: either you whine and moan or you shrug it off and work on improving yourself. At this time, if you direct your cognition towards the second point, your neural connection would be formed accordingly. Now you repeat this behavior for the next couple of times you face rejection. This will strengthen that neural connection. Resultantly, now whenever you face rejection in life your response would be to stand tall and work on yourself rather than complaining about your situation.

5. It provides us with a healthy dose of opioids.

Our bodies don’t like to be disturbed from our regular, stable state. So, whenever are faced with a situation that is disturbing, the body tries its absolute best to bring us back to stability. The same is the case when facing emotional pain. Whenever we face a situation that is emotionally painful for us, the opioid system in our brain gets triggered.

The opioid system consists of chemicals like endorphins that are the natural painkillers of the body. These chemicals are only released in the body when the individual faces some sort of pain. They reduce the perception of pain and promote feelings of pleasure and reward.

Studies show that this natural dosage of opioids is absolutely essential for the body. Individuals who do not experience emotional pain and are deprived of the natural opioids develop maladaptive coping strategies like avoidance, denial and substance abuse.

This wraps up my journey of finding the meaning and purpose behind pain. I concluded that we all have to experience pain to a certain amount not only to remain healthy but to become better versions of ourselves. This transformative nature of pain is what gives it purpose and meaning in our life. Hope my comprehensive portrayal of this topic was helpful for all of you in understanding the purpose of pain through the lens of philosophy, psychology and neurobiology. Let’s end this with a quote I found online.

Life is a mixture of sunshine and rain, teardrops and laughter, pleasure and pain. Just remember, there was never a cloud that the sun couldn’t shine through.