The 'How Do You Manage Pain?' meme typically utilizes medical stock imagery or clinical illustrations of a doctor-patient interaction to highlight the difference between physical discomfort and emotional or existential dread. It surfaced as a popular format on social media platforms like Twitter and Reddit, where users subvert the medical context to provide 'unhealthy' or humorous coping mechanisms like binge-watching shows, retail therapy, or self-deprecating humor. The meme resonates widely because it provides a relatable outlet for discussing mental health and modern life stressors through a lens of shared irony.