Too much pain is bad for us

From the book “The disordered mind” by Eric R. Kandel (winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine/Physiology):

‘Stressful life events – the death of a loved one, loss of a job, a major move, or rejection in a love relationship – can trigger depression. At the same time, depression can cause or exacerbate stress. Andrew Solomon, a professor of clinical psychology at Columbia University and a superb writer, describes the onset of depression following several stressful events in his life:

“I had always thought of myself as fairly tough, fairly strong, and fairly able to cope with anything. And then I had a series of personal losses. […] I managed to get through those crises more or less intact. Then, a couple of years later, I suddenly found myself […] “in terrible trouble”. And that was when I finally sought antidepressants and began the serious treatment of my illness.” ‘

So yeah, I guess we have a ready answer to give to whoever tells us, when we’re going through the n-th loss or struggle hitting us repeatedly over the course of just a few months or years, “I hope you can be grateful for this pain”. We can reply by giving them the scientific proof that too much pain is bad.