“Asymbolia” is a condition in which patients are immune to pain.
Also known as “pain dissociation,” this condition usually results from a brain injury. Patients who have pain asymbolia typically feel pain but are not negatively affected by it.
A 1988 study of 6 patients summarized their findings:
“In the absence of primary sensory deficits, these 6 patients showed a lack of withdrawal and absent or inadequate emotional responses to painful stimuli applied over the entire body, as well as to threatening gestures. Five patients also failed to react to verbal menaces. Patients appeared unconcerned about the defect and seemed unable to learn appropriate escape or protective responses.”
Source
Asymbolia for pain: a sensory-limbic disconnection syndrome (Berthier, Starkstein, & Leiguarda, Annals of Neurology: July 24, 1988)
