Silent killer of the soul: Why absence of pain is the most terrifying symptom
An exploration of how the biology of leprosy explains the catastrophe of modern numbness – about the demyelination of conscience, digital cynicism, and the loss of the human face.
In the Word of God we repeatedly encounter references to people afflicted with leprosy. At the Divine services this Sunday we will also hear the Gospel passage about how the Savior healed ten lepers. In this reflection, we will try not only to look more deeply into the nature of this severe disease, but also to speak about its spiritual counterpart. Today, more and more people in the world suffer from spiritual leprosy, often without even noticing it.
The anatomy of disease: How a bacterium “cuts the wires” of life
In physical leprosy, the mycobacterium M. leprae attacks Schwann cells – the cells that wrap nerve fibers in a myelin sheath. They are like the rubber insulation around an electrical wire, necessary for fast and accurate signal transmission. The bacterium penetrates these cells, multiplies inside them, and reprograms them. As a result, the cells stop performing their function or die altogether.
Loss of sensation occurs not only because of the bacterium itself, but also because of the body’s reaction to it.
The immune system detects the “invaders” inside the nerve and launches an attack. This causes severe swelling and inflammation. Because of the inflammation, the nerve thickens and begins to compress itself. The combination of bacterial assault and external pressure leads to the destruction of the insulation and the death of the nerve fiber itself. In the end, the “wire” is cut. Skin receptors may register a burn or a prick, but the path to the brain has been destroyed.
A person looks at their hand, sees the injury, but feels nothing. It is precisely the absence of pain that is the main reason for the horrific deformities we associate with leprosy. Contrary to popular myths, fingers and limbs do not simply “fall off” because of the disease. Rather, because the person feels no pain, repeated unnoticed injuries occur; tissues die, bones undergo resorption, and fingers gradually shorten.
An interesting fact: M. leprae prefers cooler temperatures. That is why it primarily affects parts of the body with lower temperatures – the nose, ears, hands, and feet – while leaving internal organs relatively untouched.
This turns the body into a vulnerable target, because pain is our primary warning system against danger.
Demyelination of the soul: Why we stop feeling another’s pain
Now let us look at the parallel between physical leprosy and its spiritual analogue. In biology, the bacterium destroys the insulation of the nerve. In the spiritual realm, that “insulation” is our empathy and attentiveness – our ability to have compassion. But when a person scrolls through a news feed where a picture of a kitten sits next to images of bombed-out homes and corpses lying in the street; when, after a plea for help for a dying child, an advertisement for sneakers appears – our empathy begins to break down. The psyche cannot respond to everything.
In order not to go insane, we “burn out” our emotional receptors. We stop perceiving another’s pain as pain. It becomes merely “content.” This is the demyelination of the soul – the signal of compassion no longer gets through; it dissipates in digital noise.
The consequences of such demyelination are terrifying. I remember listening to a monk-hermit whom I respected, who seriously reasoned that war is something like a “sanitary worker of the human forest” – that it is needed to kill bad people. But what if a missile strikes a nine-story apartment building, destroys it, and people die? Does that mean God spent years gathering only “bad people” in that building? What nonsense! Over all these years of war I have seen and known how many very good, worthy, noble people have been killed. How many have suffered. War kills all kinds of people – good and bad alike. And how many innocent children and elderly people have died?
After such reasoning, it was no longer surprising when one “super-Orthodox” parishioner, who had attended church every Sunday for decades, responded to news that a certain city had been under continuous bombardment for three days with many civilians dying by saying: “Well, they got what they deserved.” And I hear this kind of attitude among Orthodox Christians toward this war at many different levels. This is spiritual leprosy.
Cynicism as anesthesia: When gloating becomes the norm
In leprosy, a person does not feel a burn. In psychological terms, the equivalent of this anesthesia is irony and cynicism. Modern culture teaches us to laugh at everything as a form of self-defense. “Don’t take it to heart.” “It’s just hype.” Cynicism is a painkiller.
A person who is capable of mocking pain and suffering – no matter whose, even that of those he considers enemies – is already sick with spiritual leprosy. And if he takes pleasure in it, he is already a corpse.
A cynic cannot perceive another person’s inner pain. He is incapable of either love or mercy. He sees tragedy, but like a leprosy patient, he does not pull his hand away. He keeps watching, commenting, scrolling – while his spirit continues to decay.
Virtual leprosy: Why it is easier to insult pixels than a person
M. leprae attacks Schwann cells. In society, the equivalent attack is the depersonalization of one’s interlocutor. On the internet there are no living people – only avatars and nicknames. It is far easier to type “die” at pixels on a screen than to say it to a living person’s face. People stop seeing another human being as their equal.
An illusion arises that our words – insults, condemnations, abuse – cause no real harm. But just as with leprosy, the absence of pain does not mean the absence of damage. Society rots from within from hatred that no one considers real because it is “virtual.” Yet this is precisely genuine spiritual leprosy.
The cold of indifference: Where the bacterium of numbness thrives
M. leprae loves cool parts of the body. Modern spiritual “bacteria” likewise thrive in the cold of loneliness and egocentrism. The cult of “personal boundaries” and individual success often turns into isolation. We “cool” our relationships not only with strangers, but even with relatives and members of our own families.
In this cold, the bacterium of indifference multiplies best. We do not intervene when we see teenage girls kicking their classmate on the ground. We walk past a person lying on the sidewalk, justifying ourselves by thinking he is probably drunk or a drug addict – or offering no justification at all. We simply pass by indifferently. We preserve our comfort, but in doing so we lose our human face.
Mute trauma: How humanity is “erasing” itself
In the end, we arrive at the phenomenon of the “mute trauma” of the soul. The most frightening part of this analogy is the ending. A leprosy patient loses fingers not because the bacterium eats them away, but because he himself wears them down, feeling no pain.
Modern humanity is erasing itself in exactly the same way.
We destroy the institution of the family (because enduring and building relationships is “painful,” and we want comfort). We destroy social bonds (because compassion is a burden). We tolerate cruelty (because our conscience is under anesthesia). We are becoming dehumanized. Along with inner pain, we lose our human likeness. Because pain is the watchdog of humanity. If it does not hurt us to see injustice, if we feel no shame when we pass by, then the mycobacterium has already destroyed our nerves. We are already sick – or perhaps already dead – even though outwardly we still appear alive.
