Sticks and Stones

The BBC reported an interesting story about the nature of physical pain vs. emotional/psychological pain:

Hurt feelings 'worse than pain'

The old adage "sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can never hurt you", simply is not true, according to researchers. Psychologists found memories of painful emotional experiences linger far longer than those involving physical pain. They quizzed volunteers about painful events over the previous five years. Writing in the journal Psychological Science, they said evolutionary brain changes which allow us to work better in groups or societies could be key. The volunteers, all students, were asked to write about painful experiences, both physical and emotional, then given a difficult mental test shortly afterwards. The principle was that the more painful the recalled experience, the less well the person would perform in the tests. Test scores were consistently higher in those recalling physical rather than "social" pain. Psychological scoring tests revealed that memories of emotional pain were far more vivid...

It reminds me of the opening lines of the Dhammapada:

1. Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought. If with an impure mind a person speaks or acts suffering follows him like the wheel that follows the foot of the ox.

2. Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought. If with a pure mind a person speaks or acts happiness follows him like his never-departing shadow.

-Dhammapada, Chapter I, verses 1-2. trans. by Acharya Buddharakkhita