Pain → Pleasure Curve Calculator
Model an activity (cold plunge) and an optional follow-up (sauna), including contrast bonus and recovery. Sliders tweak the curve; the chart shows affect relative to baseline over time.
Parameters
Cold plunge
Peak pain (Pmax)
7
010
Cold duration (d)
2m
0m10m
Pain ramp constant (δ)
0.6m
0.1m5m
Pain decay (τp)
9m
1m60m
Cold reward peak (R)
3
010
Reward decay (τr)
120m
1m600m
Sequencing & sauna
Delay to sauna start (T)
6m
0m60m
Sauna pleasure peak (S)
6
010
Sauna decay (τs)
180m
1m600m
Contrast bonus
Contrast scale (α)
0.3
02
Nonlinearity (γ)
1.3
0.53
Contrast decay (τc)
30m
1m120m
Time preference & simulation
Discount rate (k)
0.2/h
0/h2/h
Horizon
360m
60m1440m
Affect curve
Affect is relative to baseline. Positive = pleasurable, negative = painful. Time in hours.
P(d)
6.75
Contrast
2.94
Peak
8.33 @0.10h
Trough
-3.75 @0.00h
Net Present Value (NPV)
Numerical integral of affect discounted by k over the horizon.
14.12
Tip: Try toggling sauna off, then on. Then increase delay T to see how the “contrast” benefit decays.