Is Emotional Pain or Physical Pain More Painful?

Recent research carried out by the Universities of Michigan and Columbia has discovered that the areas of the brain that respond to physical pain actually overlap with those responding to relationship break-ups. Thus this type of emotional pain would appear to trigger a similar form of pain perception as that caused by physical pain.

Most people would probably prefer to be affected by physical pain instead of emotional pain. With physical pain we tend accept it for what it is and "get on with it". You break a bone and go to the doctor and get it patched up. It's an inconvenience. It's uncomfortable. It's painful. But you know what is causing the pain, you deal with it, and you get on with your life.

Emotional pain, on the other hand, is frequently caused by a non-acceptance of what is happening and an ensuing internal struggle to deny the facts. Your mind embarks upon a rampage of "if only this" or "if only that" and them moves on to "perhaps if I try" this or that. Your focus remains stuck upon the very thing that is causing the pain, and the more you think about it the more pain you feel.

Hence emotional pain is most often a more painful experience than physical pain. However, this does not need to be the case. In reality, if you know how to focus your mind in a more productive manner, emotional pain can be dealt with more quickly and easily. Emotional pain is not a broken leg and does not need to be turned into one. Your heart does not have to break.

The words that we use to describe our emotional pain are revealing in that we describe our pain in physical manner. We do say that our hearts are breaking, or that the air was squeezed out of our lungs, and so on. As we use such words to describe the pain we make that pain all the more tangible to us, thereby providing it with more purchase.

You can also relax and let go of the pain by using your mind so long as you know how to do so. You can use your imagination to feel warm hands upon your heart, soothing and relaxing it and piecing it back together. You can visualize your breathing relaxing and becoming deeper and calmer. You can choose to use words that are designed to soothe, relax and repair.

You can heal your emotional wounds with your mind. You do not have to allow your mind to go on a rampage and deepen your wounds and keep them open. I know that many people will argue that it is impossible to think clearly when you are experiencing emotional turmoil. Hypnosis comes in very handy at such a time as it provides you with an emotional respite.

With hypnosis you can give yourself a break from emotional turmoil, take a mental step back and relax. As you relax in hypnosis you can also guide your mind to focus in a different direction, thereby empowering yourself to deal with your emotions in a positive manner. You can mentally rub salve upon your wounds, bandage up your emotions and move on with your life.

Roseanna Leaton, specialist in hypnosis mp3 downloads for health and happiness.

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