Why Was I A Little Bothered?

Warning: Gory details

I had a lecture today in Emergency Procedures in which a lot of pictures were shown of actual trauma. Now, in Gross Anatomy, we did many things that would probably make most people really uncomfortable like cutting into the skull to remove the brain. Or, sawing straight down the middle of the cadaver's face to expose the various cranial cavities. We've even had to saw and cut straight through genitalia. When you dissect, you really have to tear apart the body. So, why was I a little uneasy over these images? It wasn't much, but considering what I've already done in Gross Anatomy, the images should not have had any effect on me.

I think I boiled it down to the fact that I could imagine the pain that these people were in. The cadavers were already dead. However, some of the images involved people who were still alive. I saw images like a mangled hand, a severed body parts, lacerations, one guy with his eyeball hanging out, etc. I was able to keep my eye on the board and take notes, but there was a slight feeling of uneasiness. I guess I could imagine a little bit of their pain. Looks like I haven't been completely desensitized yet.