The stronghold of agony is the experience of physical pain. The offense in agony is betrayal. This type of betrayal is not one you can easily ignore because, with agony, your own body betrays you. If you are suffering under the stronghold of agony, your world gets very small, very quickly. Pain is tangible; you feel it, yet the source of the felt pain is often unknown. Pain’s origin can be physical, emotional, existential, or spiritual. This chapter is not a thesis on pain's pathophysiology but will show how physical pain's subjective experience can be a stronghold. Physical pain is a loud voice that demands attention. This loud voice is a powerful distraction, yet, you are the only one that hears its screams. Pain is a stronghold in that it causes you to focus on yourself. You feel compelled to focus on the area of pain to find a solution. At times, the solution becomes a stronghold, as we will see in an upcoming chapter on addiction. When it comes to the human experience with pain, physical pain is the one that is the most easily recognized and identified. Suffering from a biological source can be named, like headaches, backache, tooth pain, etc. This physical pain has a specific location and quality, and most often, a pathology causing the pain experience.

On the other hand, non-physical causes of discomfort or anguish, which feel the same as physical pain, are often tough to identify. Yet, this is the type of pain the enemy uses most often as a stronghold.