9 years ago
3
Why Do Amputees Feel the Ache of Nothingness?
For amputees, it’s adding insult to injury. They’ve already lost pieces of themselves that they thought they could always count on, limbs that they first discovered while waving the chubby things in their cribs. Yet after that life-changing loss comes a new kind of suffering: They begin to feel pain in the voids, in the places where their limbs used to be.
Continue Reading http://nautil.us
Join the Discussion
Interesting insights. I've often wondered about this.
The brain thinks something is there when it isn't.
I can imagine this being less physical pain and more of a constant state of mental stress, a reminder of something long lost and the fact that it can never be the same. I had a twitch in my hand once, it made two of my fingers (index and thumb) involuntarily twitch for about a two weeks. There was no physical pain to it, it was just so mentally debilitating that it caused a lot of stress and anxiety. It went away as quickly as it started, and right away I felt a lot better. I have been lucky enough to retain all of my limbs, and I can't imagine what these people are going through, it must be pure hell not to be able to forget, and adding actual pain on top of that is a whole new nightmare scenario.