<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congenital_insensitivity_to_pain" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP)</a> is a condition in which a person <em>cannot</em> feel physical pain.  There is no known analogue encompassing all <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_pain" rel="nofollow noreferrer">emotional (psychological) pain</a>.</p>
<p>There are certain conditions in which a person may not be able to feel certain types of emotions, such as in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy" rel="nofollow noreferrer">psychopathy</a> and related <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisocial_personality_disorder" rel="nofollow noreferrer">anti-social personality disorder</a>.  This <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisocial_personality_disorder#Limbic_neural_maldevelopment" rel="nofollow noreferrer">may be related to abnormalities</a> in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limbic_system" rel="nofollow noreferrer">limbic system</a> - an area of the brain associated with processing emotion.</p>
<p>However, it is not always clear whether or not individuals who appear to lack the ability to feel certain types of psychological pain (eg, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posttraumatic_stress_disorder" rel="nofollow noreferrer">PTSD</a>) in fact <em>cannot</em> feel it, or they can feel it but are indifferent to it, as in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blunted_affect" rel="nofollow noreferrer">emotional numbness</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apathy" rel="nofollow noreferrer">apathy</a>.</p>
<p>Additionally, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotion#Cognitive_theories" rel="nofollow noreferrer">modern theories of emotion</a> suggest that emotion is &quot;subjective&quot; (context-dependent) - that is, physiological aspects of emotion (such as pain) are only part of the picture, and many other cognitive factors come into play.  So for example, in the case of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_heart" rel="nofollow noreferrer">broken heart</a>, as with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_pain#Neural_mechanisms" rel="nofollow noreferrer">psychological pain in general</a>, it <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_heart#Psychological_and_neurological_understanding" rel="nofollow noreferrer">appears to share some mechanisms</a> with physical pain - ie, this type of pain is effectively the same as physical pain.  Nonetheless, CIP patients appear to be able to feel emotions such as heartache normally, suggesting that the mechanism is much more complex, and physical pain is neither necessary nor sufficient for feeling psychological pain.  The added complexity may be the reason why an emotional analogue to CIP is not known - the number of systems that would need to malfunction simultaneously is too unlikely.  It is also probable that given the importance of emotion to normal functioning, that a condition of not feeling it would be equivalent to death.</p>
<p>PS: Sorry that I don't have any book recommendations for you, but Wikipedia articles I linked to contain many references to literature you can check out.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-13T19:53:24.923Z
this is very helpful. I appreciate this.
rpm07
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-02T21:36:21.743Z
Interesting video on [anhedonia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anhedonia): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjliQksDbFw
Arnon Weinberg
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-12T22:12:04.220Z
2021-02-02T21:31:22.510Z
2021-02-02T21:31:22.510Z
Arnon Weinberg
<p>Congenital insensitivity to pain is a rare condition where a person cannot feel pain (physical). Is there any condition relates to emotional pain or any pain not related to physical that a person cannot feel? </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-28T14:14:45.457Z
This depends to some degree how you define "emotional pain". If a baby is hungry and is not fed, does that result in "emotional pain"?  This is actually important to the answer.
anongoodnurse
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-28T14:18:13.113Z
like the emotion you felt when you get a broken heart, something like that.
rpm07
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-28T14:22:59.163Z
People who are hungry do feel emotional pain if this need is not met, just as people who want to be loved feel emotional pain if the need is not met. How are you differentiating between the consequences of the two unmet needs? My point is, either you need to clarify exactly which kind of pain(s) is absent, or include them all.
anongoodnurse
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-28T14:55:13.180Z
don't know some other emotional pain.
rpm07
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-28T15:22:31.710Z
is there any book I can read about such emotion?
rpm07
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-30T12:22:05.773Z
Pain is an imaginary situation where you believe and feel that you have some difficulty. It can be of any type, such that it is *physical*, like you fall from tree, or it is *mental*, like you fail your exam...So basically there is no such thing as pain...it is all imaginary. When you look at your foot you feel pain because it is bleeding. Similarly you feel pain when you see that you have failed in your exam. So is all what you see. It is cognitive sciences. So there are conditions in which you don't feel pain: it is when you do not want to or are not available to feel pain.
Colonial Dunky
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-01T06:20:13.450Z
@ColonialDunky is there anybook I can read about this kind of stuff?
rpm07
<pain>
Is there a condition where a person doesn't feel emotional or non-physical pain?
rpm07
# Is there a condition where a person doesn't feel emotional or non-physical pain?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-08-28)

Congenital insensitivity to pain is a rare condition where a person cannot feel pain (physical). Is there any condition relates to emotional pain or any pain not related to physical that a person cannot feel?

**Tags:** pain

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: This depends to some degree how you define "emotional pain". If a baby is hungry and is not fed, does that result in "emotional pain"?  This is actually important to the answer.  
> **username_0**: like the emotion you felt when you get a broken heart, something like that.  
> **username_1**: People who are hungry do feel emotional pain if this need is not met, just as people who want to be loved feel emotional pain if the need is not met. How are you differentiating between the consequences of the two unmet needs? My point is, either you need to clarify exactly which kind of pain(s) is absent, or include them all.  
> **username_0**: don't know some other emotional pain.  
> **username_0**: is there any book I can read about such emotion?  
> **username_2**: Pain is an imaginary situation where you believe and feel that you have some difficulty. It can be of any type, such that it is *physical*, like you fall from tree, or it is *mental*, like you fail your exam...So basically there is no such thing as pain...it is all imaginary. When you look at your foot you feel pain because it is bleeding. Similarly you feel pain when you see that you have failed in your exam. So is all what you see. It is cognitive sciences. So there are conditions in which you don't feel pain: it is when you do not want to or are not available to feel pain.  
> **username_0**: @ColonialDunky is there anybook I can read about this kind of stuff?  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2014-12-12. Score: 8 | Accepted answer

[Congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congenital_insensitivity_to_pain) is a condition in which a person *cannot* feel physical pain. There is no known analogue encompassing all [emotional (psychological) pain](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_pain).

There are certain conditions in which a person may not be able to feel certain types of emotions, such as in [psychopathy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy) and related [anti-social personality disorder](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisocial_personality_disorder). This [may be related to abnormalities](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisocial_personality_disorder#Limbic_neural_maldevelopment) in the [limbic system](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limbic_system) - an area of the brain associated with processing emotion.

However, it is not always clear whether or not individuals who appear to lack the ability to feel certain types of psychological pain (eg, [PTSD](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posttraumatic_stress_disorder)) in fact *cannot* feel it, or they can feel it but are indifferent to it, as in [emotional numbness](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blunted_affect) or [apathy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apathy).

Additionally, [modern theories of emotion](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotion#Cognitive_theories) suggest that emotion is "subjective" (context-dependent) - that is, physiological aspects of emotion (such as pain) are only part of the picture, and many other cognitive factors come into play. So for example, in the case of a [broken heart](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_heart), as with [psychological pain in general](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_pain#Neural_mechanisms), it [appears to share some mechanisms](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_heart#Psychological_and_neurological_understanding) with physical pain - ie, this type of pain is effectively the same as physical pain. Nonetheless, CIP patients appear to be able to feel emotions such as heartache normally, suggesting that the mechanism is much more complex, and physical pain is neither necessary nor sufficient for feeling psychological pain. The added complexity may be the reason why an emotional analogue to CIP is not known - the number of systems that would need to malfunction simultaneously is too unlikely. It is also probable that given the importance of emotion to normal functioning, that a condition of not feeling it would be equivalent to death.

PS: Sorry that I don't have any book recommendations for you, but Wikipedia articles I linked to contain many references to literature you can check out.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: this is very helpful. I appreciate this.  
> **username_3**: Interesting video on [anhedonia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anhedonia): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjliQksDbFw  

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