Adaptation & the Psychology of Pain

I remember I once blogged about how Psychology is interesting and it gets me thinking, or did I? Anyway, the previous class got me thinking again; Adaptation and the Psychology of Pain.

Adaptation - an adjustment in sensory capacity after prolonged exposure to unchanging stimuli (Introduction to Psychology, Mcgraw Hill)

We always talk about being adapted to a new environment and things like that but so far, nobody I know has ever talked to me about being adapted to sex. No I'm not a pervert; the thought just popped up in my mind during class. Lets say you're constantly inflicting pain on a part of your body and the more times you do it, the less pain you feel, right? Isn't it the same for sexual intercourse? You do it everyday, you get adapted to the pleasure. No? I'm not sure how addictive sex is but still, won't a couple get adapted to it and not feel the pleasure as they felt for the first time? I asked my friend this and she answered me "That's why they must spice things up mah". True I suppose.

Is that why there are so many sex positions? LOL. And all the sex toys. Woah okay.

Now the Psychology of Pain; is pain a sensation or a perception? Its both actually. Some people say its only a sensation because when you're injured, of course you feel pain. But its also a perception because, to me its how that person thinks of the level of pain that he/she is feeling. Like me, if I get a cut and I change my own perception saying that "its just a small cut nothing big", I won't feel the pain much. Or in another way that my lecturer explained to us; a person doesn't feel much pain to his/her injury because he/she thinks that getting injured is worth it as long as they can achieve their goal. See, its all about perception! So when you have a wound or anything, just don't think about the pain. Now I know why doctors/nurses try to distract their patients when they're cleaning the wounds...hehe.