Not exactly writer's block

Well, now I've got the time, and so, with permission from Princess Tehtena, here are a few things I would like to add to the previous post.
  As of late, I am having a rather hard time writing.  No, it is not writer's block, because I know exactly what words I want to write.  It is not lack of time either.  What it is, I believe, is an increasing reluctance on my part to hurt myself.
  Work on my novel reminds me constantly of certain circumstances that are a source of deep sorrow to me.  I simply cannot add a single word to my manuscript without being reminded of matters that make me profoundly sad.  Sure, as is the case with many artists, I need a fair amount of pain in order to be creative, but there comes a time where even a masochist like me can't take it any more and feels tempted to work on something that makes him forget, rather than contemplate, the things that cast a shadow on his existence.
  Of course I am not going to abandon my novel.  I will pick myself up every day and plod on.  I also know that many of my fellow writers are struggling with very similar problems and that there is thus nothing particularly unique about my situation.  Still, I felt the need to post the above.  Perhaps I am just hoping that those who are starting to get impatient with my slow progress will read this and cut me some slack.  ;-)  Will you?