I appreciate this challenge to the article's viewpoint. My response would be that regardless of our unawareness of the causes, both emotional and physical pain

I appreciate this challenge to the article's viewpoint. My response would be that regardless of our unawareness of the causes, both emotional and physical pain are signals of things we need to pay attention to. Maybe chronic pain is the perfect analogue to depression/anxiety exactly because it seems to have unknown or untreatable causes. Maybe there is a need for painkillers in difficult chronic cases, but the vast majority of experiences of pain are functional and helpful. Additionally, chronic pain conditions generally strike late in life whereas depression/anxiety come earlier. The emotional pain seems more likely to be adaptive whereas the seemingly meaningless physical pain later in life seems more like people's bodies breaking down. Thanks for the critique.