Thinking requires real effort and sustained attention. Most often, however, people don’t recognise just how much effort is required, considering it’s difficult to compare cognitive exertion to the physical effort of running 10km or lifting a heavy weight.
How we respond to the mental task of thinking is personal, however there is a consensus that thinking can be unpleasant, and even painful.
“As much as I think this question, ‘can thinking be painful?’, is an overgeneralistion, I can’t help but be reminded of how challenging it can be to do school homework with my kids,” says Dr Damien Lowry, chartered member of the Psychological Society of Ireland. “Their experience would appear to support the question’s implied hypothesis. In reality, though, it’s likely to be more nuanced.”
Thinking requires deep analytical thought that utilises multiple mental resources and cognitive skills, such as a working and long-term memory, to build on the ideas already formulated in your mind – managing automatic responses and resisting distractions; utilising sustained attention to ensure concentrated focus; problem-solving skills; distinctive mental energy; and the combined effort of these tools without becoming mentally drained. Added to the neurological effort of thinking, there is the physical effort. Mental effort triggers the body to release stimulating neurochemicals such as adrenaline and dopamine. Increased heart rate and blood pressure, tense muscles, headaches, fatigue and mental strain are some of the physical reactions.
Dancing with the Stars: ‘I’ve had the best time of my life. I feel super fit,’ chef Kevin Dundon says as he is voted off show
Oscars 2025 red carpet: Ariana Grande sets the standard while Timothée Chalamet stood out in ‘Kerrygold’ yellow
Róisín Ingle puts a Thermomix to the test: ‘I am a convert but there’s one enormous catch’
With so much going on, is it any wonder that thinking can be uncomfortable at times?
“We often have a preference for what I tend to call ‘passive solutions’,” says Dr Lowry. “Namely, I prefer when I get a desirable outcome, such as an exam grade, without having to work hard for it. However, there are many instances where I don’t mind working hard in order to reap the rewards of those efforts, such as finishing a jigsaw puzzle, managing a project, harvesting a garden patch, or, dare I say, raising kids.”
A 2020 study from McGill University suggested that thinking hard can be more unpleasant than real physical pain. Psychology researchers offered participants the choice between performing a cognitively demanding task or experiencing thermal pain. The researchers uncovered that those participants traded off cognitive effort for physical pain. Previously, a 2014 study went as far as determining that some would even prefer and choose stimulating pain over boredom or having to think.
Why does mental effort feel so unpleasant that we would choose physical pain instead?
And is this why we may avoid the exertion of high levels of thinking?
“The unpleasantness is more akin to feelings of dissatisfaction, boredom, irritation or agitation,” says Dr Lowry. “These experiences are typically quite different qualitatively to physical or sensory pain but having worked in hospital settings for over 20 years, and clinics that manage patients with chronic pain syndromes, these ‘negative affect’ states are well-known pain amplifiers. In other words, they have a tendency to elevate the sensory pain experience compared to psychological states of wellbeing and positivity.”
Mentally challenging activities can be enjoyable. However, researchers from Radboud University in the Netherlands have uncovered that mental effort is “inherently aversive”. Within their study, the team analysed 170 studies covering 4,670 participants across 358 different cognitive tasks. The researchers found this association with negative affect in all types of tasks with and without motivating features for example, tasks in which people have autonomy, tasks in which people receive feedback, and tasks in which performance has real world consequences. Interestingly, the greater the mental effort, the greater the unpleasantness.
However, Lowry notes that this recently published study didn’t control for things that matter in relation to this issue. “Those factors are highly likely to include our attitudes, mindset, motivations, and preferences with regard to cost versus benefit,” he says. “It’s human nature to be specific and targeted when it comes to spending significant effort on something. Otherwise, the reward isn’t worth the investment and it’s simply experienced as unpleasant.”
The understanding is that people choose difficult and mentally complex tasks in spite of the unpleasantness of it, not because of it. Lowry says that some people seek out this uncomfortable feeling and push the boundaries of their mental effort “because it matters enough to them”.
“It’s likely that they derive meaning or purpose or fulfilment from whatever it is they’re investing their mental effort and commitment in, and this can be incredibly rewarding,” says Lowry. “Beware of the tendency to let experiential avoidance shape your activity and life decisions too much.”
If the cognitive effort of thinking is unpleasant or hurts, Lowry suggests reflecting on this experience in the first instance and then talking to someone else about it.
“It is likely to require a tailored and accurate interpretation of the situation before the next steps can be identified and actioned,” he says. “One of my personal mottos in life is that ‘emotions never lie but they can be based on faulty intel’.”
He also notes that not all frustrations are unhealthy. “Sometimes, the challenge of a sustained effort is worth it,” he says. “However, sometimes, the feelings of frustration or mental anguish is a reflection of honest internal experiences that might signal the need for change in a person’s life. That’s important to unpack if it’s unclear.
“But from Sigmund Freud to modern day Buddhism, most psychological, philosophical and spiritual thinkers agree with the need to be able to accommodate discomfort in our lives, so long as it’s not toxic or excessive. In the modern world we run a risk of forming an aversion to unwanted experience. Think of your greatest achievements in life and ask yourself whether they’d have happened or not if you hadn’t navigated the unpleasantness involved?”
While thinking hard can be notably difficult, we do it to expand our horizons, to utilise our skills and to engage with others. Thinking may be unpleasant, it may even be painful at times, but the benefits outweigh the discomfort.
