Trying to imagine what it would be like to live life without the sensation of pain
After reading a story from the CNN site about a little Georgian girl who is living life without the ability to feel pain, it got me to thinking about just how important relevant pain is.... now I am not talking about debilitating pain, like from arthritis or chronic back ailments... I mean, the pain from when you sprain a limb, or cut yourself, or even, yes, the dreaded toothache/dental abcess... and how that would affect how you lived your life.
In the story, those who know the girl describe her as fearless because of the quirk of nature and genetics... but that fearlessness came with a price... the fact that she can easily injure herself... and often has(burns, biting, abrasions). I assume that as she gets older, she will become more in tune with what the human body should and shouldn't do... but it makes me wonder if her lack of pain perception will make her less empathetic to the physical pain of others? I mean, it is one thing to be free from pain... and another to have never known pain.
When trying to find out more about this disorder, like how adults cope with it, but I was unable to really find any information about adults who still have it, mainly out of morbid curiosity and some prurient interest. I mean, I think about how closely tied pain and pleasure are, and it makes me wonder how such a disorder would fit in with the sex drive and in the event that such an individual could have children, would their child also have the disorder, or would they be merely a carrier? These are all questions that puzzle me.
But I wonder if the reason I can't find out about adults who still have the disorder is because most of these children don't make it to adulthood without the warning signs pain gives them, which sort of depresses me too... a seeming gift for those in pain that is in fact a curse and a detriment to life.