sufferings

Suffering and related sufferings refer to the experience of physical or psychological pain and distress. They can be acute or chronic and may arise from illness, injury, loss, violence, or broader social and existential factors.

Suffering spans physical, emotional, moral, existential, and social dimensions. Physical suffering covers pain and disease; emotional suffering includes grief and anxiety; moral suffering involves conflicts between action and belief; existential suffering concerns meaning and mortality; social suffering arises from inequalities, stigma, or displacement.

Causes vary from direct harm to threats and loss, amplified by inequality, discrimination, and limited access to care. Suffering may be temporary or persistent, and can coexist with resilience, support, and hope.

Responses include medical treatment, psychotherapy, social support, and practices that foster meaning or mindfulness. Societies seek to reduce suffering through care, policy, humanitarian aid, and education, while individuals use coping strategies such as problem solving, emotion regulation, and connection.

Cultural and philosophical perspectives differ: some traditions view suffering as a test, purification, or impetus for growth, while others emphasize relief of suffering as a moral obligation. The problem of pain remains central to discussions of ethics and the human condition.

In research and practice, suffering is studied across medicine, psychology, sociology, and anthropology, using patient reports, scales of pain and distress, and qualitative methods, with attention to cultural variation in experience and expression.

See also: pain, distress, resilience, well-being, human rights.