Pain and suffering is a legal term that is used to describe not only physical injury, but emotion and mental injury or trauma, as well. State laws vary on the recovery of damages for pain and suffering in personal injury cases; in some states, recovery for pain and suffering may be limited or restricted in some way, usually by statute. The measure of damages for pain and suffering is not based on any mathematical formula or objective standard for measuring damages; rather, it stems from a numeric value placed upon intangible or non-economic damages.