I was going to write something else about pain, emotional pain ...what was it ? A flash back to an Ingmar Bergman film that I saw.. must be over 20 years ago .. don't remember which one .. but it was a scene that contained an " aha " moment.
Liv Ullman was the woman and Elliot Gould was the man.
She was tormented and struggling with pain .. angst ...wrestling with emotional demons that had such a strong hold on her that she could not cry or utter any kind of sound in order to express and get some kind of relief. These agonising emotions were inside causing excruciating pain. I think she breaks a glass and grips the sharp pieces in her hand to cause herself physical pain , because that physical pain she could deal with ,Physical pain was somehow preferable and indeed the only way she had found to get some sort of relief.
This strong scene that has stayed with me for years and helped me understand deep psychic, emotional pain.
*shudders*
SeasideMan
Pro 
Are you sure it's Liv Ullman? Elliot Gould starred with Bibi Andersson and Max Von Sydow in The Touch, from 1971. Could that be the film you're thinking of?
Breaking glass to damage yourself with features in Bergman's Cries and Whispers, which does feature Liv Ullman.
Tom.