Pain is one of our body’s primary alarm systems. It warns us of danger and activates our defensive mechanisms. For instance, if we touch something hot, we feel pain and instinctively draw back to avoid being burned. If we cut a finger on a knife, the pain prompts us to staunch the bleeding and protect the injured area. If we eat something spoiled or poisonous, we experience stomach aches or nausea, which makes us avoid consuming that food again. These are typical examples of how we relate to pain: it is usually a straightforward cause-and-effect response.

However, our relationship with pain is more nuanced than we might realise. Take the example of touching something hot: while accidental contact causes immediate pain, immersing ourselves in a hot bath does not, because our conscious understanding overrides our nervous system's warning. Conversely, there are times when our nervous system fails to detect danger, and it’s our conscious mind that triggers the alarm. For instance, you might not feel the pain of a cut until you actually see it, because your brain didn’t recognise the sensory input as harmful until your eyes confirmed it.

Moreover, the connection between our emotions and physical sensations is significant. Fear can manifest as a stomach ache or a feeling of nausea, even though no physical poison has entered the body. This demonstrates that our emotional state can produce physical symptoms similar or even identical to those caused by actual physical harm.