Q: How does the brain function when you are experiencing hurt or pain?

A: Great question. How does the brain functions in the presence of physical pain or social hurt depends largely on your mindset and how you manage the discomfort. Unmanaged, your brain can become overwhelmed with the load of sensory decoding and find it difficult to concentrate on anything else. When you fight against the discomfort, sometimes it even increases, as the brain wants you know that you are experiencing physical pain or social hurt. I tend to talk to my brain in such situations. I thank it for notifying me via the discomfort that I am experiencing physical pain and move into it, using a variety of strategies to manage it. I thank my brain for notifying me via the discomfort that I am experiencing social hurt. I acknowledge it and draw on my past learned experiences and Emotional Intelligence skills to manage it. Note that social hurt may be experienced in the heart as well as the brain. Those two organs--brain and heart--continually communicate and can reinforce each other negatively or positively. You may need a good counselor or healthcare professional to help you identify which is which and learn to apply helpful strategies. Either way, healing takes time.