Pain perception is influenced by emotional state, sensory stimuli, auditory and visual perception. Mental effort can control pain sensation, and emotional state significantly affects pain degree. Sensory perception also plays a role, but meditation, guided imagery, and hypnosis can help control pain perception.
Among the many factors that influence pain perception are a person’s emotional state, certain auditory cues, and visual perceptions. Sensory stimuli also contribute to the sensation of pain. In addition to mental and physical contributors, scientists studying how people perceive pain have found that, even in the absence of pain medication, the sensation of pain can be controlled with concentrated mental effort.
By studying the mind-body connection, researchers have found that different types of perception contribute to the physical sensation of pain. For example, auditory perception can contribute to the sensation of pain and its intensity. This is sometimes true in patients diagnosed with complex regional pain disorder. For these individuals, everyday sounds such as the sound of a horn or the slamming of the door can cause pain in certain areas of the body.
Visual perception also contributes extensively to pain perception. Because pain is largely a protective mechanism that signals danger to consciousness, the sight of a painful event often intensifies a physical sensation of pain. Such an example would be a person who is allowed to watch an incision being made on the body. Even with anesthesia, an increased perception of pain is sometimes present in these cases. In addition to visual perception situations like this, the mental expectation of pain also contributes to its presence and intensity.
Researchers studying pain perception have found that a person’s emotional state significantly influences the degree of pain experienced when subjected to painful stimuli. Research participants in optimistic moods have been observed to experience lesser degrees of pain than those in uncomfortable, angry, or depressed moods. Visual perception and emotion often work together in this regard. For example, these same results have been seen in participants receiving small electric shocks while simultaneously showing images that are perceived as cute or beautiful while other participants are shown photos that are considered gloomy or unpleasant. Participants exposed to unpleasant scenarios experience more intense pain from the shocks than other participants who are shown visually appealing photos.
Of course, sensory perception also plays a role in pain perception. When the body is damaged in some way, pain signals are sent to the brain in an attempt to inform a person’s consciousness that something is wrong. Even with the presence of painful stimuli, however, researchers have found that meditation, guided imagery, hypnosis, and other methods of controlling the mind and body are of significant help in controlling pain perception.
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