I remember reading during my neuroscience MSc that there are two distinct areas in the brain activated during pain, one which is to do with the feeling of pain,

I remember reading during my neuroscience MSc that there are two distinct areas in the brain activated during pain, one which is to do with the feeling of pain, and the other which is to do with the mental anguish caused by that pain. It makes sense to me that there are non-medical ways of diminishing the anguish aspect of pain (although of course whether something "makes sense" doesn't automatically mean it's true). It also matches the different psychological responses to pain of soldiers in battle, where the pain is not as intrusive, vs a sportsperson who's injured during a game and who's in an otherwise safe space where they can ruminate about what the injury means for their career.