The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) amplifies pain. This is the mechanism that is believed to create emotional pain and amplify physical pain (Jennifer Heisz (2022). When a child gets a scrap on their knee and they feel more pain when they see blood, it is because the ACC amplified the pain. When a child gets a kiss on the knee, the ACC decreases the pain. When your boyfriend manipulates you by telling you that you are a bad person, he is inflicting pain, he knows you try to reconcile in order to make the pain disappear.