I'm German and that is highly exaggerated.

While doctors here are in fact very careful and conversative with opiates, if you need them, you get them. Almost all of the people with chronic pain I know get opiates, or cannabis.

Yes. When stubbing a toe I've historically employed two strategies for dealing with it. In my youth I would shout and hop around the room, i.e. distract myself. Nowadays I pay as much attention to the pain as is possible and practical. Remarkably this approach does seem to alleviate the pain.

So my guess is that the function of pain is to direct attention to injury. Not just for thinking about ways to avoid repeat injuries but purely and simply to promote the healing response. Which is not to say that I wouldn't welcome a painkiller if the pain was great enough. It's just that the suffering caused does seems to increase with the efforts one makes to distract oneself from it.

While that is exaggerated, it's close to what many people here think

> Your body will heal itself with rest.

Love too keep my arm permenantly lowered because ibuprofen is evil and rest is good

My neighbor got addicted to opioids after he got in a motorcycle accident and broke many bones.

He eventually broke the addiction but said he was super grateful for opioids.

So, yeah... sometimes the source of the cause of pain is "multiple broken bones"

Have you ever been on call?

Imagine that you are on call, and you get paged for something, and there is no way to stop the page from going off even though you're aware of the issue and trying to resolve it.

You could also, if you'd like, imagine that your alarms were misconfigured and they were going off for literally no good reason, but there was no way to silence the mechanism that's paging you.

It's kind of like that.

Suppose it takes time to figure out and fix the cause of the pain, or is impossible to find the cause and/or fix it.

Terminal cancer sucks.

There have been a number of updates and revisions of the medical code of ethics dating back to the Hippocratic Oath. Below is the American Medical Association Principles of Medical Ethics from 1957 [1], and for a longer look [2].

Section 1. The principle objective of the medical profession is to render service to humanity with full respect for the dignity of man. Physicians should merit the confidence of patients entrusted to their care, rendering to each a full measure of service and devotion.

Section 2. Physicians should strive continually to improve medical knowledge and skill, and should make available to their patients and colleagues the benefits of their professional attainments.

Section 3. A physician should practice a method of healing founded on a scientific basis; and he should not voluntarily associate professionally with anyone who violates this principle.

Section 4.The medical professional should safeguard the public and itself against physicians deficient in moral character or professional competence. Physicians should observe all laws, uphold the dignity and honor of the profession and accept its self-imposed disciplines. They should expose, without hesitation, illegal or unethical conduct of fellow members of the profession.

Section 5. A physician may choose whom he will serve. In an emergency, however, he should render service to the best of his ability. Having undertaken the care of a patient, he may not neglect him; and unless he has been discharged he may discontinue his services only after giving adequate notice. He should not solicit patients.

Section 6. A physician should not dispose of his services under terms of conditions which tend to interfere with or impair the free and complete exercise of his medical judgment and skill or tend to cause deterioration of the quality of medical care.

Section 7. In the practice of medicine a physician should limit the source of his professional income to medical services actually rendered by him, or under his supervision, to his patients. His fee should be commensurate with services rendered and the patient's ability to pay. He should neither pay nor receive a commission for referral of patients. Drugs, remedies or appliances may be dispensed or supplied by the physician provided it is in the best interests of the patients.

Section 8. A physician should seek consultation upon request; in doubtful or difficult cases; or whenever it appears that the quality of medical service may be enhanced thereby.

Section 9. A physician may not reveal the confidences entrusted to him in the course of medical attendance, or the deficiencies he may observe in the character of patients, unless he is required to do so by law or unless it becomes necessary in order to protect the welfare of the individual or of the community.

Section 10. The honored ideals of the medical profession imply that the responsibilities of the physician extend not only to the individual, but also to society where these responsibilities deserve his interest and participation in activities which have the purpose of improving both the health and the well-being of the individual and the community.

[1] American Medical Association. Principles of medical ethics. Appendix F. 1957:355–257. In: Baker RB. The American Medical Ethics Revolution. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.

[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3399321/