created: 2023-10-10T17:33
updated: 2024-07-05T19:33Pain and suffering; semantics
Pain and Suffering by Siler, Bonerman, Ferrell (2019, 2020):
The words pain and suffering are often used interchangeably. For example, definitions of pain in the dictionary include bodily suffering, mental/emotional suffering, or distress, and suffering is defined as the bearing of pain or distress. It is understandable that these words are intertwined in relation to cancer patients in pain. However, there are distinctions. Pain is a physical sensation or signal indicating an event within the body. Suffering is the interpretation of that event and involves thoughts, beliefs, or judgments and reflects the human experience of pain. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7009317/)
Cassell defines suffering as “the specific distress that happens when persons feel that their intactness or integrity is threatened or is disintegrating, and it continues until the threat is gone or intactness or integrity is restored.” Cassell further asserts that suffering is caused not only by the event itself but also what that means to the person with regard to the future. (Cassell E, The nature of healing: the modern practice of medicine. New York: Oxford University Press; 2013. p 221)