All Pain is the Same

[relaxed_attention]

I know this is a simple concept but I thought I would share it…I heard Oprah say the other day that all pain is the same and I believe this is true. I believe that our road to recovery is comparable to quitting heroin or recovering from anorexia. But in their cases they can physically measure their success and in ours it’s relative. So the best thing to know is that every one of us can absolutely recover. We know this from hearing others’ stories. And second to “Know thyself.” I think most of us have enough life experience to know what situations we feel comfortable in and the ones we don’t. By gradually exposing ourselves to social situations is comparable to an anorexic who gradually starts nibbling on morsels of food.

So we know it’s a long journey, but at the end of it lies peace within. After I started waking up to see the sunrise, exercising, going to church, taking Kava Kava, watching less TV, reading more and stop drinking alcohol, I feel myself becoming better. What about everyone else? What stage are you in?

 

[Chilling__Echo]

So we know it’s a long journey, but at the end of it lies peace within. After I started waking up to see the sunrise, exercising, going to church, taking Kava Kava, watching less TV, reading more and stop drinking alcohol, I feel myself becoming better. What about everyone else? What stage are you in?

good lord sweetie, that's alot! how long did it take you to get all of that out of your life? did you go one at a time or cold turkey everything?

i try not to sleep in so much, it makes me more prone to depression and i'm trying to keep up exercising but i hate the gym! plus this past week i've been so busy with my classes. but that's more for the depression.

i feel i'm recovered - if that's the right word for it. i still get nervous going to parties, i still blush if people look at me in a group all of a sudden, but i've trained myself to brush it off as soon as possible b/c the more i dwell on it, the worse off i am.

SA no longer runs my life, 7 years it did, but now i take things in stride. i still stress out ALOT but nothing can hold me back now. and soon to be drug free, i'm on my last stages of weaning myself off Paxil.

nice post, i agree with what Oprah says "all pain is the same" - so very true. lately i've been wondering how i would respond to a friend if they ever implied that they thought i had it easy growing up just b/c i have parents that are still together, i'm in college, car, decent life, etc.

 

[bluenow]

I don't understand what "all pain is the same" means.

I agree with your analogy of, "our road to recovery is comparable to quitting heroin or recovering from anorexia."

But does Oprah mean that any pain a person can suffer is the same as another? I don't get it.

 

[Chilling__Echo]

that's how i interpret it. it's like how no one can understand what it's like to have SA that don't have it and can't speculate on our pain b/c it's the way we became and it's all we were exposed to.

i think about it like someone comparing loosing their mom to their friend's dog dying. both could be going through the same amount of pain and someone #1 can't ever tell someone #2 that they're better off. the cercumstances in each of their lives could be completely different from each other. all pain is the same - people interpret things differently in life

 

[freakalmightee]

the thing with pain is. which is worse, short bursts of intense pain or long-enduring dull pain? short bursts of severe pain are nasty and surprising and long-term dull pain is depressing and de-motivating. short bursts of pain seem to pass and then we feel stronger because we endured them and the memory is blurred. long-term pain tends to drag on and chip away at us.

 

[cLavain]

the thing with pain is. which is worse, short bursts of intense pain or long-enduring dull pain? short bursts of severe pain are nasty and surprising and long-term dull pain is depressing and de-motivating. short bursts of pain seem to pass and then we feel stronger because we endured them and the memory is blurred. long-term pain tends to drag on and chip away at us.

QFT!

Just like stress: Short-term stress is good, long-term stress that never ends wrecks havok on your body both mentally and physically.

 

[Zipper]

All pains, sorrows, and griefs under the suffering care of the highest minister, are but the ministers of truth and righteousness.

 

[Reholla]

hmm dont know what Zipper means by the last post. But I agree to an extent of what the "all pain is the same" saying means.

Like to others looking at some one with anxiety who may appear to "have it all" they might be like, well whatever this persons reason for going thru this, it can't be a good enough reason cause like at what a good life they could have if they wanted it.

I'm probably not explaining it right. But to the person going through the pain, there is no easy way out, even though people observing their situation may think different.

But there are obviously different degrees of pain. And i do think that others handle pain better than some people. Its all in perspective. But I do think that quote is true, esp. for anxiety or depression.

 

[relaxed_attention]

I don't understand what "all pain is the same" means.

I agree with your analogy of, "our road to recovery is comparable to quitting heroin or recovering from anorexia."

But does Oprah mean that any pain a person can suffer is the same as another? I don't get it.

I take that to mean….the way all pain is the same is like to say all music is sound—even though each note has a different frequency, pain has different intensities. I was just trying to make the point that we are related to everyone in this world through pain. And although, we the socially anxious, understand each others’ pain more, others with totally unrelated problems are experiencing our same intensity of pain at its height and its low, with a short duration and a long duration. We can’t say that we are the select few who experience the most intense pain for the longest duration. Most people with eating disorders say they never stop thinking about food throughout the day & feel like they are in a living hell. Some drug addicts can’t go a second without wanting to use. Some civilians in Iraq live in a constant state of anxiety due to impending gunfire. Those who have lost someone dear to them (esp. the elderly) feel like they have no hope. Everyone has pain and all pain in the same although there are different intensities which I believe we all experience at some time in our lives…part of the human experience.


"So we know it’s a long journey, but at the end of it lies peace within. After I started waking up to see the sunrise, exercising, going to church, taking Kava Kava, watching less TV, reading more and stop drinking alcohol, I feel myself becoming better. What about everyone else? What stage are you in?"

"good lord sweetie, that's alot! how long did it take you to get all of that out of your life? did you go one at a time or cold turkey everything? Chilling_Echo"

Chilling_Echo, no I didn't do it all at once, I've been exercising for about a year now, but just stopped drinking about a couple months ago, just this past week, I started waking up to see the sunrise (getting up feels like hell for the first 30 seconds but then it's nice to be up so early)...with that came reading more and watching less TV. I even give myself one day a week where I can't watch any TV at all. Kava kava happended 3 weeks ago. So, no, I didn't do it all cold turkey, but each change has made me feel so much better it's amazing. I sound so straight edged but I haven't always been this way but I'll tell you what, I actually feel in balance with myself when I do them all. Before I made the changes, I was sleeping up to 12 hours a day, watching TV the majority of the day and then not being able to sleep until the sun came up. When I would go out, I'd pretty much be drunk and feel extremely anxious the next day. So, with these changes I think it will be a better life for me. I'll do whatever it takes.

 

[bluenow]

Thank you for the perfect explanation. Now I understand what Oprah is saying.

 

[bluenow]

Had to look the quote up.

"When there is pain, there are no words. All pain is the same."
From the book Beloved by Toni Morrison written in 1987.

I saw that movie. It was very odd and thought provoking.

 

[testobot]

I don't agree that all pain is the same, but I do think all pain is valid and everyone who suffers should be respected regardless of interpretation of how bad the suffering is.

 

[girlshaped]

I think all pain is the same whether it's continual or short lived.
We've all been in deep when we see no light at the end of the tunnel. I think the possibe meaning of "all pain is the same" is that we've all been hurt/are hurting and have been heartbroken to the point of destruction where we think there's no way out; whether it's depression, grief, a slight wound, a serious wound at some point in our lives. In my opinion, the conclusion as to why all pain is the same is that no matter what happens and how much we hurt/ are hurting we come good in the end - there is light.