Continuing to Struggle

North Star, we all know and love you, so don't let it concern you that you may not like or follow conservative evangelicals.
Neither do I. I've watched enough of them on tv to see the dollar signs in their eyes.

I need to watch the old movie, ELMER GANTRY, about a phony religious "Music Man."

 

You are such a sweetie, Walt. Thank you.

I watched that movie a long time ago. It really hits the nail on the head. There was another once too…made in the 80's I think. The name escapes me but it was a similar story.

Many of the folks that I know in evangelical circles are good and kind people…well intentioned. But their worlds tend to be quite small and fearful. Like the perspective I held for many years.

Funny…not. I bought a garage sale from a woman to resell. She had TONS of clothes, shoes and purses. If I was a betting woman, I'd say she was a shopaholic. In the midst of all the stuff, were CD's on finding peace and Christian messages and music. I found it sad. The cognitive dissonance you're trained to live with in those circles is so destructive. (Her health didn't look so good to me either.) But I digress….

 

Steve and others,

I did appreciate a lot of the book, and found many excerpts to be relatable and helpful. However, I felt that there were leaps made that crossed into regions too involved with belief. At times, these beliefs were offered as facts. I found the metaphysical blips floating around on my radar to be distracting from the helpful sections, perhaps most of all because they undermined my ability to accept the more grounded stuff. Perhaps for other readers it aided their understanding. Just my two cents.

I remember hearing/reading Sarno say a few times something along the lines of not really knowing exactly why the TMS treatment works, or exactly understanding all of the mechanisms behind unconscious emotions manifesting in a physical way... but in his experience the treatment works. I appreciated this honesty and humbleness, and it served to strengthen my trust in his recommendations. I'm more wary when someone seems to have all the answers. Even Siddhartha Gautama seemed to say that he had no idea what the hell was going on in the universe, but offered some techniques that he found made life more manageable/tolerable for himself.

Interestingly enough, Brain Pickings posted a very relevant article today:

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/06/23/nothing-jo-marchant-heal-thyself/

Thanks all

 

This is a very interesting article! Thanks for posting the link to it.

 

Well frankly, no. I found SteveO's message HOPEFULL to the last page. He is not a scientist, he's one of us. He was dealt a terrible hand, malpractice by a member of the medical/industrial complex. It sounds like you are looking for test-tube proven scientific evidence for TMS before you can accept it. At the present time and perhaps never will TMS be proven in lab and a pill forthcoming to cure it. TMS is about accepting the knowledge that it is psychosomatic. You may be able to massage one symptom with a bandaid but it will morph up in another symptom imperative.

The underlying emotional subconscious problem must be addressed, resolved or accepted as the source. It is not just about o2 deprivation, that's just one physiological mechanism that causes muscle, tendon, ligament pain. It can take on any form that fools your logical conscious mind to use it a defense mechanism/protector from the feared emotional problem(s).

The Good Doctor has said TMS is a protector and not a punisher as Freud thought. Be thankful it's doing it's job at the moment. When you are ready to deal with the emotional side, the physical or affective pain will no longer be needed. To find life situations that cause TMS look at the Rahe-Holmes list. These are the sources of psychosomatic dis-ease--there's your science! Also for test-tube type scientific proof look at the works of Candace Pert a Noble prize winning neuro-pharmacologist.

At this time you are looking for reasons NOT to believe TMS works, it's like playing not to lose. The TMS cure is about winning control of your life back from the cultural forces that want to rob you of it. It requires a leap of faith and discarding what passes for modern day science that is more akin to shamanism and voodoo, not that there have been real technological breakthroughs in dx'ing real structural problems and repairing real tissue damage, but 80% of what the waiting room is filled with is emotionally induced. I'm currently reading Nicole Sach's TMS book "TRUTH". It's a good source for learning the kind of soul-searching self-questioning work needed to cure TMS.

 

Steve, an audio of your book will be fantastic. Good luck with that job.
Who's going to do the audio? Meryl Streep?

 

Steve, one of my most intense characteristics is having an opinion about everything. At first, I couldn't get into your book but not because it was too New Age. As a once upon a time editor, I thought it needed massive tightening. Then I joined the book study and became a huge fan! Now I don't think I'd change anything. Love the relaxed approach, in fact.

 

njoy, I also like the relaxed, personal approach Steve takes in his book. It reaches a lot of people.

 

While I think that may be true about myself to some extent, that's not really what I was trying to get at here. I wasn't frustrated with Steve for not giving test-tube data, I was frustrated with the far-reaching explanations that he did offer... many that seemed extraneous to me, that's all.

 

Again though, I really did enjoy the book for the most part, including the relaxed, personal approach.

 

I'd say that the main things I'm doing:

1. mindfulness meditation - 30 minutes daily
2. daily exercise
3. read at least one TMS related article or excerpt per day
4. resist making decisions based on pain
5. nightly list of possible psychological stressors

What else can a guy do to get this going? I need relief!

 

And please don't say "need relief less"!

 

Have you looked at the Rahe-Holmes list of stressors?

 

Tyler, I think you're doing everything right. The missing item on you list is simply TIME. We didn't get into these TMS pickles over night and I'm seeing it is only a rare few that have a spontaneous cure reading the book. (There are some days I'd like to slap those people!)

I'd also add, "add fun to your day." I realize a huge issue that I have is I'm just not having a whole lot of fun. Find something you enjoy doing and do that!

Hang in there!

 

Yes, thank you Tennis Tom. I have taken a look. The onset of symptoms absolutely coincides with some majors... my back pain started the very day that I moved to England for college at age 18, 6 years ago now, (the move, in retrospect, an escape attempt from spiraling emotions, self esteem issues, a broken heart, and a psychological intolerance to reflections, mirrors, and photographs.) These all kind of came into the picture at the same time, but while the other ailments have improved moderately, the back pain has progressed, spread, intensified, etc. Through the lens of TMS, I guess that all seems to make a lot of sense huh?

I do feel like I'm very aware of those anxieties, and the traumas that kicked them all off. While I haven't 'solved them' by any means, I do actively engage in trying to better understand. I am having trouble bringing up whatever's more hidden in there, because I think there's probably some background radiation that's really foundational to my host of symptoms. I'd like to see it boil up, but I guess my brain's trying to keep it buried. We'll see how the coaxing goes...

 

Thank you North Star, I think you're absolutely right. It's so difficult not to demand results. But rationally, yes it's no surprise that there haven't been any major breakthroughs yet. I'm just getting started. I would like to get some hints of success though, just to know that I'm moving in the right direction. These changes in perspective and 'letting the knowledge seep into the unconscious' are subtle arts, and I want to know that I'm doing it right... And there's your TMS personality right there!

 

I so understand, Tyler! Know that those little signs will probably be on the subtle side. There's where taking frequent pauses throughout the day are helping in assessing how you're feeling. Many times when I stop, I am aware of a tensed up muscle or some other sign of tension like a scrunched up expression.

I also make it a point to celebrate milestones….like taking a walk without pain or the moment when I realize a headache that was starting up…is fading away. (That last one is a HUGE since headaches would crank up and last literally for WEEKS!)

And yup. This ain't a linear, exact science by any measure. I like how you put it, "subtle arts". Well said!

 

North Star and everyone: I recently discovered a great cure for headaches.
Christopher Germer, a clinical psychologist, has several audios at his web site that help with headaches and other stresses:

http://www.mindfulselfcompassion.org/meditations_downloads.php

I had the start of a tension headache two days ago and it went away while listening to his audio on meditation and breathing.

I'll be checking out the others.

 

Tyler try this new forum feature Forest has been able to get for us:

Ask a TMS Therapist
This subforum is reserved for the Ask a TMS Therapist program, in which TMS Therapists from the Pain Psychology Center have volunteered to answer questions from our forum.

 

Hey eskimoeskimo,

It does sound like you're doing everything "right" in terms of trying to reduce stress, fully accepting the diagnosis, disproving physical causes, finding the source of stress, etc...but it also sounds really exhausting! North Star had a good point - try adding things to your life that you enjoy, that just make you happy, and that aren't related to TMS healing. Make time for YOU, not your TMS!

Forest made a great video on whether it's possible to work too hard at TMS that I think might help here. It's in the following thread:
http://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/3-can-you-work-too-hard-at-overcoming-tms.194/