ONE OF THE BAD GUYS in Stieg Larsson’s ‘The Girl Who Played with Fire’ had a distinct advantage over anyone who sought to do battle with him. He had a rare disease known as congenital analgesia which causes an individual to not experience pain. Motor and sensory neurons do not develop normally and so, for example, a punch in the nose won’t hurt, or even some more grievous injury. Yet this is not a condition to wish for in real life. Yes, pain hurts, and we have all felt its cruelty. But this was a fictional character Larsson was portraying. Pain could be perceived as a protective signal. It helps to identify diseases, for example, such as a tooth infection or, more seriously, a bowel obstruction. If a person cannot feel pain, the disease progresses and worsens, only to be discovered at an advanced stage. I recall, however, back when I suffered from ulcerative colitis, that all the belly pain that I was experiencing didn’t seem to be helping those doctors to come up with a means to provide me with relief. At night, alone in a hospital bed, I thought that a bird with sharp talons was attempting to escape from my insides. I could have used a little of that congenital analgesia. I suppose it all depends upon one’s perspective.
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