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BMCsoccer01's picture

Differences in Pain Tolerances

  I think that Jim brings up a really good point above. Certain individuals do handle pain differently than others. We know that the male and female brains, despite their many similarities, have adaptive differences. Thus, in knowing that individuals differ based upon their pain tolerance and reaction to painful stimuli, I think a better question would be: How much of this is in the hands of him/her? How much of experiencing pain is mental and how much is behavioral? Maybe it is not that people feel pain any differently, but maybe some people have a greater behavioral component linked to their nervous system that in turn makes them more prone to becoming upset? This makes the battle of the sexes on pain seem more based on the hardwiring of the individual and less about the sex. 

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