The Concept of Suffering
Suffering is a term that comes from the Latin word “suffero” meant “‘long-suffering’ or facing a burden of pain with patience” (Anderson 2014, p. 4). According to this definition, suffering includes the concept of pain [which is derived from the word “poena” in Latin] “referred primarily to punishment or penalty” (Anderson 2014, p. 4). In ancient Greek time, as is known, people believed that they would be punished by Gods, and then they would suffer if they break the rules. So, the punishment meaning of pain depends on this old belief system of Greeks, and it differs from the present psychological conceptualization of pain. In current psychological theory, pain is mainly associated with the physiological components of suffering, and so, it is known as the physiological suffering. However, suffering, as a unique term, has a broader meaning than pain because it includes psychological, social, and existential afflictions (Anderson 2014).
Types and Sources of...
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Dincer, D. (2019). Power of Suffering. In: Leeming, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27771-9_200188-1
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