When Pain Becomes Content for Viewing

Mirrors of the Soul

Discussions about social media are no longer merely passing intellectual exercises; they have become essential for understanding their profound impact on consciousness, behavior, and society. We are not witnessing just a technological evolution, but a deep transformation in how some people view privacy, pain, and illness. Matters that should remain personal affairs, with their reward counted with God, are increasingly being exposed to the public, becoming material for others to consume. Some have crossed the boundaries of using platforms for communication, turning the details of their illness and health conditions into a central part of their daily presence online.

In the congestion of this digital space, we now see some individuals who are not content with merely enduring their pain; they insist that others witness it, as if suffering requires an audience to be complete. Details are published, crises are displayed, and emotions are invoked, until illness transforms from a trial to be endured with spiritual reward into content to be consumed.

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The matter has transcended the goal of seeking prayers, becoming instead a means of self-promotion and attracting views.

Here, I do not refer to those who simply post a photo or a brief word in request of prayers. Rather, I mean those who turn their illness into permanent content, publishing videos and documenting the details of their pain and suffering, making the illness a recurring focal point of their presence before people.

While some argue, "We post for awareness, to educate people, and to share experiences with others," the question here is: Does awareness require publishing every detail? Must every painful experience necessarily be converted into visual material displayed publicly?

Are there not many who have gone through similar experiences and tasted the same pain, perhaps even enduring greater suffering, yet chose to keep that aspect of their lives private?

True awareness does not require the exhibition of pain, nor the filming of every moment of weakness. A person can share their experience, benefit others, and leave a positive impact without making their pain the permanent headline of their presence.

How painful it is to reach a time when illness, which humans once hid out of modesty and sought reward for from God, has turned for some into content displayed on platforms, its value measured by the number of views, comments, and interactions.

Since when did pain become news to be published publicly?

Since when did health privacy become an open spectacle for strangers?

There is no harm in a person seeking prayers when the world feels too narrow, nor is there any objection in informing loved ones about what they are going through. But it is painful when this turns into a repeated exhibition of pain, as if illness has become a means to elicit sympathy and attract new followers.

Even more painful is that some do not stop at announcing their illness; they make its details daily material: a photo here, an update there, a message designed to stir emotions, followed by monitoring of reactions… until a person becomes more preoccupied with who viewed their illness than with the One who holds the power to heal them.

One wonders, when did we start seeking reassurance from people’s sympathy, while we possess a door that never closes: the door of God?

There is a vast difference between saying, "Pray for me, perhaps one of your sincere prayers coincides with a moment of acceptance," and turning your illness into a repetitive story, with its details never ending before people, searching in every detail for a new dose of interaction.

Some social media platforms have made people chase numbers, even in their most vulnerable moments, unfortunately. Instead of a health crisis becoming a moment of reflection, calm, and turning to God, it has become for some an opportunity to increase followers, expand the circle of fame, and craft a story designed to elicit emotion.

Not everything we feel should be published, not every pain requires an audience, and not every tear needs to be seen by others.

Some pains are more beautiful when they remain between the servant and his Lord. Some trials yield greater reward when the afflicted says, "God has decreed, and what He willed has occurred," then moves forward with a contented heart, counting his reward with God.

We are not against those who ask for prayers; rather, we are against trials becoming commodities, illness turning into content, and tears becoming a means to an end.

Turn to the sky before turning to the screen, and raise your hands to the One who holds healing. What is with God endures longer, and the most sincere prayer may come to you from a single person, without the whole world knowing your story.

Finally, we ask God to grant every sick man and woman healing and well-being.

A Kuwaiti writer