Posted by lc bob on February 02, 1999 at 14:16:34:
In Reply to: Do we "Need Our Pain?" posted by Anonymous on February 02, 1999 at 10:33:58:
note the quotation marks ... "Need Our Pain" ... folks
he/she's not saying you consciously want or need the pain - the question is (i think, i hope) more one of subconscious or autonomic function.
noone within 100 miles of sanity would need this pain in any conscious way.
it's what einstein called gedankenkraft - thought experiments - a "what if" ...
sneezing, coughing, retching, even nausea and diarrhea are unpleasant, mostly autonomic responses to body conditions that would probably not happen if they were conscious choices (e.g. would you choose nausea and/or diarrhea even if you knew it was for the good of your intestinal tract to rid itself of some invading substance?)
in those cases, the alternative to the unpleasant autonomic response is conceivably worse than the body's choice.
so the question might become ... is CH a body response to something it perceives as worse than the headache? it then leaves the realm of psychobabble to acknowledge that the body does things we do not understand but are sometimes necessary for comfort or survival.
we must consider everything to be credible. i agree open minds cultivate answers.
pain freedom is a human right!
-lcbob