Page 71 - Advanced Biblical Counseling Student Textbook

or movement in limbs that no longer exist. Some try to step off a bed onto a phantom leg or to lift a cup
with a phantom hand. Even those born without a limb sometimes feel sensations in the missing part.
The brain comes prepared to anticipate “that it will be getting information from a body that has
limbs/” 110

“Phantoms may haunt our other senses, too. People with hearing loss often experience the sound of
silence; tinnitus, a phantom sound of ringing in the ears. Those who lose vision due to illnesses may
experience phantom sights – non-threatening hallucinations. And damage to nerves in the systems for
tasting and smelling can lead to phantom tastes or smells, such as ice water that seems sickeningly
sweet, or fresh air that reeks of rotten food. The point to remember: we see, hear, taste, smell and feel
pain with our brain.” 111

Controlling Pain
“If pain is where body meets mind – if pain is both
a physical and a psychological event – then it
should be treatable both physically and
psychologically. We have some built-in pain
controls. Our brain releases a natural painkiller,
called endorphins, in response to severe pain or
even vigorous exercise. Soothed by the release of
endorphins, our experience of pain may be greatly
diminished. People who carry a gene that boosts
the normal supply of endorphins are less bothered
by pain, and their brains are less responsive to it.
Others, who carry a gene that disrupts the neural
pain circuit, may be unable to experience pain. These discoveries point the way toward future pain
medications that imitate the genetic effects.” 112
(photo: today.uconn.edu)

When endorphins combine with distraction, amazing things can happen. Sports injuries may go
unnoticed until after the game. During a 1989 basketball game, Ohio State University player Jay Burson
broke his neck – and kept playing.

“Health care professionals understand the value of distractions and may divert attention with a pleasant
image (‘Think of a warm, comfortable environment”) or a request to perform some task (‘Count
backwards by 2s’). A well-trained nurse may distract needle-shy patients by chatting with them and
asking them to look away when the needle is inserted.” 113

“The brain-pain connection is also clear in our memories of pain. The pain we experience may not be the
pain we remember. In experiments, and after medical procedures, people tend to overlook how long a

110 Ibid.
111 Ibid.
112 Ibid., p. 144.
113 Ibid.

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