Pain and suffering is the legal term for physical and emotional stress caused by an injury (see also pain and suffering). There's a saying we use in the practice of mindfulness: “Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. The experience of pain is the result of a physiological process that occurs automatically in response to a harmful stimulus. While mindfulness can be useful for treating pain itself, the degree of control we have over it is limited.
Suffering, on the other hand, is defined as “wanting things to be different from what they are”. Potentially, we have much more control over suffering when it arises, since we can realize when we want our experience in the present moment to be different from what it is. Then we can let go of these thoughts and accept that, right now, things are the way they are. Wanting them to be different doesn't change this. According to the Cornell Law School, pain and suffering refer to physical and emotional distress caused by an injury.
It encompasses a variety of experiences, from chronic pain to mental distress, that affect quality of life. Damages from pain and suffering involve physical discomfort, mental distress, and a diminished quality of life experienced by personal injury victims. The law recognizes that injuries have effects beyond medical expenses and loss of income, and aims to compensate victims for these intangible damages.