enduring temporary, but excruciating, pain

[thedustbustr]

Inspired by bkholdem's post in ED's thread on prescription drugs.
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rapid or abrupt withdrawl from heroin and it's cousin's will not kill you (although you will proably feel like your dying or wish you were).

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Suppose you are in a circumstance such that you have a choice to endure excruciating pain for a temporary period (say, a week), but then will be free of any side effects, forever. Perhaps this circumstance is a strong physical addiction to heroin, and you have the choice to stop cold turkey. Or, a sadistic billionaire will give you a billion dollars to endure two weeks worth of torture, but you will be physically and mentally healthy when the period ends (save the memory, and any psychological effects, of enduring such pain)

You have the option to self admit to a medical facility which will physically restrain you (padded arm or full body restraints, or whatever). You are aware that you will endure excruciating pain, which has been described to you as pain so unbearable, that you would prefer death. But when its over, its gone, completely. You will not be permitted to take medication, nor will you be permitted to commit suicide - once you commit to this facility, you are forcefully held until the pain ends. You are guaranteed to emerge in the same physical condition as you started, besides any specific positive consequences which you acknowledge and accept, such as the heroin addiction gone.

Would you do it? Could you do it? I imagine it would be psychologically similar to a nightmare. My first instinct is to say that enduring such a torture would be a positive life experience, to strengthen our minds against pain, and very applicable to the training of soldiers.

It is also interesting to suppose that suicide were permitted, and easily accessible (say, through a Kevorkian euthanasia machine, which allows you to press a button to administer a lethal drug).

[CocoaKrispies]

Can't excruciating pain cause legit mental problems later though? Could you guarantee that there wouldn't be any long-term effects, or is that part of the risk of the experiment?

Cause I'd like to say pretty much anyone could get through something for two weeks with a billion dollars waiting on the other end, consequence-free.

[mutigers5591]

no way in hell i could do that even for a billion dollars....2 weeks of pain where i would rather die seems way too long..this question would be much mroe interesting imo if it was for a day maybe

[nath]

Yeah, this is not the sort of thing most of you would want to go through.

[Los Feliz Slim]

I've always said that I'd put up with 30 minutes of anything for enough money to never have to work again, but two weeks sounds extremely brutal.

[Hume]

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My first instinct is to say that enduring such a torture would be a positive life experience, to strengthen our minds against pain, and very applicable to the training of soldiers.

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I think it's much more likely to make you hyper sensitive to pain for the rest of your life.

[thedustbustr]

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Yeah, this is not the sort of thing most of you would want to go through.

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I havent found any trip reports or blogs yet, but:

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Withdrawal symptoms continue to be the greatest obstacle in heroin detoxification treatment. Studies concur that there is no proof that one detoxification treatment is better than another. Relapses continue to occur in numerous cases around the world therefore making heroin detoxification a monster of an addiction. Statistics show that the average heroin addict will stop and start detox 10 to 25 times in their lifetime relapsing to heroin use every time

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http://www.addictionsearch.com/treat...-detox_10.html

[guids]

I know no one will agree with me, but pain is a state of mind you can get passed it "transcend it", 2 weeks is a long time, but if the price was right Id go through with it. I think there are very few things that would make me prefer death

[KotOD]

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My first instinct is to say that enduring such a torture would be a positive life experience, to strengthen our minds against pain, and very applicable to the training of soldiers.

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I think it's much more likely to make you hyper sensitive to pain for the rest of your life.

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Enduring massive pain doesn't do this at all. It makes minor pains seem even less so, even unnoticeable.

[thedustbustr]

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My first instinct is to say that enduring such a torture would be a positive life experience, to strengthen our minds against pain, and very applicable to the training of soldiers.

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I think it's much more likely to make you hyper sensitive to pain for the rest of your life.

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I'd expect that you became numb to it. Maybe I've read too much sci fi and fantasy.

If anyone has read the Wizards First Rule series, Richard Rahl's experience with the Mord sith is basically this.

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While under a Mord-Sith's control, a victim is brutally tortured and questioned in an effort to break their will. Pain for a Mord-Sith is something like a close and constant friend, even a form of love, in their perverted vision of the world.

...

Mord-Sith are chosen at a young age. Only the most gentle and caring girls are chosen, as it is believed the most innocent and loving are capable of the most hate and cruelty. In a Mord-Sith's training they are broken three times:

The First Breaking

The girl is first broken of her spirit like Richard was in Wizard's First Rule. They go through gruesome torture each day, until their minds are twisted. She is given the same pain that she will later use to break their victims. It is said that the girl is confined to a small dungeon and kept there, locked away. While not locked in the dungeon they are tortured with the same Agiel they will soon hold as their own. By this seclusion and constant torture the girl's will shall be broken and she will lose a part of herself. This is the easiest of the breakings, the second and third are much harder, and if a girl can't be broken they are killed.

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