Pain, unlike pressure and temperature, is one extremely complicated sensation. Some mechanisms in the brain usually control the human reaction to pain as well as awareness of pain. The withdrawal and escape response from what causes pain are triggered by the same stimuli that produce the pain. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the physiological/behavioural pain effects while identifying the brain parts that each effect of pain activates. The article will also provide examples of personal experiences for the impact.
Physiological/ Behavioral Effects of Pain
Sensory component: This is the painful stimuli’s intensity perception. When an individual has pain, it is perceived necessarily such that one cannot have pain and not be aware of it. When pain is felt in any part of the body, there are some sensory qualities ( Hansen & Streltzer, 2005) . When an individual is in pain, it serves a role that is constructive since the effect usually motivates an individual to reduce movements of the part that is injured or even come into contact with some objects. This effect is meant to minimize the likelihood of being injured further. The perception of pain involves defining, recognizing, as well as responding to pain depending on its intensity. It has been indicated that the pain perception can be modified through some stimuli such as environmental, the release of opioids that are endogenous or those that are exogenous.
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The immediate emotional consequence is the following effect: This is the degree or the unpleasantness to which a person is bothered by the pain. The unpleasantness of the pain occupies the individual’s thought and can be considered to be a dimension of the pain experience ( Middleton, 2003) . The perception of the unpleasantness of pain depends on how individuals attribute their discomfort to specific issues such as health. The rate of the unpleasantness of pain is high to those people who perceive it to be a more significant threat to health as compared to those who understand it to be of less threat despite having similar pain intensity.
The third component is the emotional consequences of pain that are chronic. This is the danger that the chronic pain poses to the well-being and comfort of the individual experiencing it. When pain is constant, it can result in even health problems such as mental illnesses. Chronic pain is usually influenced by emotions, and the pain cycle and emotions are related ( Middleton, 2003) . Pain leads to anxiety, anger, as well as depression. These emotional changes can affect one physically inflicting more pain. Individuals who experience chronic illnesses include the feeling of not being understood and demoralization. Studies have shown that those people who experience chronic pain in the settings of primary care have a higher probability of experiencing depressive and anxiety disorders that those who are not.
Parts of the Brain Activated by the Effects
The role of the brain activated by the sensory component is the secondary and the primary somatosensory cortex. When an individual is in pain, it is mediated by a pathway right from the spinal cord directly to the ventral posterolateral thalamus to the somatosensory cortex both secondary and primary. The activity of the primary somatosensory cortex increases with a painful stimulus, indicating that the perception of pain is done by the somatosensory cortex ( Carlson & Birkett, 2012) .
Any changes in the intensity of pain that an individual perceives are reflected in the changes taking place in the activation of the somatosensory cortex. Somatosensory cortex only gets activated if the pain stimulus is such that the person the pain is not a result of empathy.
The component of Immediate emotions sue to pain is transmitted through a pathway that goes all the way to the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the insular cortex. Reports of stinging and painful burning sensations are made in case an individual’s insular cortex is electrically stimulated. Emotional response to pain by an individual can be decreased by damaging this part of the brain with an individual not recognizing the harm of pain. Such individuals fail to withdraw from pain or even recognize how dangerous it is ( Carlson & Birkett, 2012) . The activity of the ACC increases with pain, but hypnotization decreases the ACC’s activity. The changes in the unpleasantness of pain are reflected in the changes in the ACC’s activation. ACC can be activated even by pain that is not actually felt by the individual directly; that is, the pain has no actual stimulus applied. Just the mentioning of words that denote pain can lead to activation of the ACC.
The prefrontal cortex is involved by the emotional consequences of pain that are chronic. ACC is also activated by emotions regarding pain for this component. When pain stimulus is applied, the ACC is activated, and so does the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex allows for the ability to plan for the future as well as recognize situations that are personal that one is involved in ( Carlson & Birkett, 2012) . The damage of this cortex impairs the ability to do so and lack of concern on the implications of chronic pain.
Personal Experience
When I was in pre-school during the recession, I was playing with friends when I fell into a ditch. My left leg broke at the Knee point. The pain was so severe that I could not even lift my leg, and I had to be carried in stretches. The pain was felt when I tried standing up and what made the feeling so bad was the impact the pain was causing. It was such an unpleasant feeling. The pain affected my emotional status since I had to stay at home for two weeks without school and later on had to use crutches. It was depressing, and I got angry more often when people stared at me all the time.
References
Carlson, N. R, & Birkett, M. A. (2012). Physiology of behaviour . Pearson Higher Ed. Retrieved from http://93.174.95.29/_ads/EA42B465B1CF24B21EF7D7BE6BC3C967
Hansen, G. R., & Streltzer, J. (2005). The psychology of pain. Emergency Medicine Clinics , 23 (2), 339-348.
Middleton, C. (2003). Understanding the physiological effects of unrelieved pain. Nursing Times , 99 (37), 28-31.
