[Pink_spyder]

Gate Control Theory and the Brain

In order to explain why our mental states impact pain perceptions, researchers Ronald Melzack and Patrick Wall proposed what is known as gate control theory during the early 1960s. This theory suggests that the spinal cord contains a neurological "gate" that either blocks pain signals or allows them to continue on to the brain.

Researchers have long observed that factors such as thoughts, emotions, and expectations can influence our perceptions of pain. If you expect something to hurt, it probably will hurt worse. If you are upset or frightened, pain may seem more intense than it would if you were calm.

Unlike an actual gate, which opens and closes to allow things to pass through, the "gate" in the spinal cord operates by differentiating between the types of fibers carrying pain signals. Pain signals traveling via small nerve fibers are allowed to pass through while signals sent by large nerve fibers are blocked. Gate control theory is often used to explain the phantom or chronic pain.

How Gate Control Works

Following an injury, pain signals are transmitted to the spinal cord and then up to the brain. Melzack and Wall suggest that before the information is transmitted to the brain, the pain messages encounter "nerve gates" that control whether these signals are allowed to pass through to the brain.

In some cases, the signals are passed along more readily and pain is experienced more intensely. In other instances, pain messages are minimized or even prevented from reaching the brain at all.

This gating mechanism takes place in the dorsal horn of the body's spinal cord. Both small nerve fibers (pain fibers) and large nerve fibers (normal fibers for touch, pressure, and other skin senses) both carry information to two areas of the dorsal horn.

These two areas are either the transmission cells that carry information up to the spinal cord to the brain or the inhibitory interneurons which halt or impede the transmission of sensory information.

Large fiber activity excites the inhibitory neurons, which diminishes the transmission of pain information. When there is more large fiber activity in comparison to small fiber activity, people tend to experience less pain. This means that the pain gates are closed.
Small fibers impede the inhibitory interneurons, allowing pain information to travel up to the brain. When there is more small fiber activity, it inactivates the inhibitory neurons so that pain signals can be sent to the brain in order for pain perception (also known as nociception) to take place. In other words, the pain gates are now open.
While it is perhaps the most influential theory of pain perception, gate control is not without problems. Many of the ideas suggested by Melzack and Wall have not been substantiated by research, including the very existence of an actual gating system in the spinal cord.

How Touch Modulates Pain Perception

Melzack and Wall suggest that this process explains why we tend to rub injuries after they happen. When you bang your shin on a chair or table, for example, you might stop to rub the injured spot for a few moments. The increase in normal touch sensory information helps inhibit pain fiber activity, therefore reducing the perception of pain.

Gate control theory is also often used to explain why massage and touch can be helpful pain management strategies during childbirth. Because the touch increases large fiber activity, it has an inhibitory effect on pain signals.

Melzack and Wall themselves noted that the "gate" metaphor for pain perception served as a helpful way of helping people understand the basic concept, regardless of whether they grasped the complex physiological processes behind the theory. Doctors often utilize the gate metaphor to help patients understand how and why pain can fluctuate so much.

While gate control theory does not explain every aspect of how people experience pain, Melzack and Wall's theory was the first to consider the psychological factors that influence the perception and experience of pain. Initially, there was resistance to the theory, but evidence increasingly pointed to the existence of a spinal gating mechanism. The theory helped transform approaches pain management.

In simple terms, if you slam your finger in a door, try dropping a bowling ball on your foot-you won't notice your finger for awhile.
My pain is long, slow and chronic-fentanyl & morphine barely touch it.
When I get too overwhelmed with the chronic pain, sudden accute pain "covers" it for a short while, giving me a chance to "reset" my brain or to just be able to breathe easy for a few moments.
I'd be interested in hearing about any of your stories and if it works for you.

[Suicide_Note]

No pictures/videos?

[exorio]

Originally Posted by Pink_spyder ↗

In simple terms, if you slam your finger in a door, try dropping a bowling ball on your foot-you won't notice your finger for awhile.

This was exactly the reason. Distraction. Nothing more and nothing less. And those were my high school day, so yeah, hormones, rebellion, crushes, etc, everything was coming at once as a teenager.

Videogames can distract you better BTW specially if the other one are emotional pain

Skyrim is one of the best for this purpose lol

[Pink_spyder]

Originally Posted by exorio ↗

This was exactly the reason. Distraction. Nothing more and nothing less. And those were my high school day, so yeah, hormones, rebellion, crushes, etc, everything was coming at once as a teenager.

Videogames can distract you better BTW specially if the other one are emotional pain

Skyrim is one of the best for this purpose lol

I LOVE video games! Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Manhunt, Fatal Frame, Doom, Dead Space, Ark, Metro 2033...
Unfortunately nowadays I can't afford any...

[Aischa123]

Self harm is for losers....

[Aischa123]

Why should I hurt myself when I can hurt others

[winvens]

[exorio]

Originally Posted by Pink_spyder ↗

I LOVE video games! Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Manhunt, Fatal Frame, Doom, Dead Space, Ark, Metro 2033...
Unfortunately nowadays I can't afford any...

why not?

There're buttload of playable games on PC, native or emulated and that library consist of the early inception of videogames till today

I don't play latest and greatest games either nowadays. On PC I play late 90s and 2000 ish games. You can find those in abandonware sites (my favorite is myabandonware.com and archive.org)

And also ROMS and emulators, they're scattered everywhere on the internet.

Those don't even require gaming pc with RTX card and 128GB of RAM. Older PC should work good.

For the recent ones Epic store give away games regularly (every week or so I suppose?), got hundreds of em just from this alone.

I stop buying games since ages ago, since I count I have almost a thousand games spanning across GOG, steam, etc, mostly bought from discounts or cheap bundles (mostly $1), or even giveaway from reddit.com/r/freegamefindings

I never own any console since SNES. I never liked console games post 16 bit era. And videogames nowadays are cross platforms, so they're most likely will release on PC as well.

Lately I mostly plays Call of Duty mobile, which is free(mium) and all the paid stuffs are cosmetics.

But still skyrim is the best distraction for self-harm and suicidal thoughts

you'll be too busy thinking about those

[Lythal]

Playing GTA helps me, nothing better than running people over and road raging legally

If I get depressed about something I tend to eventually blame myself and cut, like punishment. I'm not one that does it in visible areas though, I do the creases in my wrists or the stretch marks on my hips so I can hide them easily, not so I can show them off to people for attention lol

[aivlysplath]

I self harm for a release or to feel something when I’m dissociating.