How does knowledge reduce TMS symptoms?

on the surface it's amazing to think that just knowledge of what causes TMS can reduce and sometimes completely eradicate symptoms. for me, i noticed a reduction in symptoms in the first day of reading The Divided Mind. nowhere near a complete cure but enough to make me read on . since doing a lot of journaling and reading i think i figured out why knowledge helped me. i've come to realize how bad a case of low self esteem and feelings of inadequacy i have. my pain symptoms (RSI, TOS, whatever...) feasted on my inadequacies and took me to seriously dark places making me think that wow... am i doomed? just felt SO worthless and desperate. there were times when i was on my knees sobbing uncontrollably begging God to somehow give me a break from the pain. this state of mind of course only made things worse and i knew that as it was happening but felt completely helpless to stop it.
so for me, when i read about TMS and what caused it, i believe that it gave me an incredible sense of relief and shot of confidence that hey - i'm NOT a completely worthless person. as a matter of fact i'm actually pretty normal!

Is that how it happened for you? or was it something else?

 

GREAT heartfelt post! You've got the Good Doctor's KNOWLEDGE PENICILLIN, and it will be in your mindbody medicine cabinet for life.

Cheers
tt

 

What a gorgeous post. I relate to all you say and thank you for putting a light-of-heart touch on some pretty wretched experiences. Having recovered from suicidal ideation and the begging god phases of despair, I know well the relief you speak of. Funny isn't it how we understand the importance of physical health almost intuitively but have to have a blowtorch up the emotional derrière to take our psychological health seriously. Of course it's all one big and glorious mind~body weave in the end but it is nice to appreciate the wheres and the whys of the tapestry of our life.

Thanks for posting this my dear.

 

Enjoying that imagery Plum, trying to find an emoticon to picture it but this is as close as I can come here :cigar: + .

Cheers,
tt/lsmft

 

There is something decidedly filthy and undoubtedly Freudian about that emoticon combination. But that may be my dirty mind.

 

Wow, you are so right

 

I did my best with the emoticons I had to work with here ; : :cigar: + .

 

walking home through an alley late one night you see a snake. You turn around trying to get away and see another snake. Your heart is racing. Sweat running down your forehead. Your muscles tighten and you're breathing fast. You pull out your big flash light thinking of using it as a weapon. Shining the light on the snake you realize those were just some long piece of ropes.
Phew!
All those tms symptoms you've just experience is now slowly fading away. Your breathing and your heart beat are back to normal....
I think that is how knowledge cure tms. It worked by getting rid of our FEAR. Without Dr. Sarno's shining light I probably still fearing my "snake" and still be miserable. His light save me and countless other. I saw his message, I believe what he said, I loose my fear, and I am cure.
No Fear, No pain.
Don't try to heal, try to loose your fear and healing will come automatically.

 

Dear pain no more,
This post made me weep. For two reasons... One because the impulse to hug someone who is feeling unimaginable agony and on their knees asking God to take the pain away is my gut reaction and two, I thought I was the only one.
Sadly, my faith is being tested like never before.. And it's terrifying. I do thank God everyday for this forum. It's been like living on one plane (a lower one) and the rest of the pain free, anxiety free( or at least "normal" levels, not crippling) world lives on another... This "place" is like home base in a adult game of tag... I commend your courageous and heartfelt post. Wishing you peace and love, Nancy

 

Simple knowledge is not enough, but it immediately reduces fear which dramatically reduces symptoms. On average it looks like people heal by about 50% once they realize they are ok physically. Once danger is ruled out they drop from fight flight and the sympathetic system eases. But it often stops right there until they do the deeper work. The deeper self must change which takes time and a good direction.

 

Thanks for sharing. Indeed, it is a wonderful experience to discover that our bodies are not falling apart or that we are psychologically damaged for life. Here is how I described my thoughts after discovering TMS in Rapid Recovery from Back and Neck Pain:


"Finally, I could see clearly why for the past two years I had experienced TMS in my back and TMS equivalents such as rash, shortness of breath, gastritis, and stomach cramps, to name a few. I understood how being raised in a family where the parents constantly argued and fought had affected my health. For the past seventeen years, I had suffered from hay fever and acne. I was also told during a medical exam that I have heart palpitations, which is a harmless but common condition. I had noticed for the past several years that when I ignored the acne on my face, it cleared up. My hay fever had been seasonal, but one particular year, it turned into asthma attacks, especially at night. Of course, now I know why. That year I had been in a serious car accident and in a very stressful situation that had caused me a great deal of resentment and anger.

I also recognized how my back pain had begun and continued due to marital conflicts. The problems at home coupled with a tense 100-mile-a-day commute had left me little opportunity to rest and relax, both physically and mentally. My experiences with back specialists and therapists had added to my anger and frustrations and had led to more pain. My wife, too, had suffered her share of back pain, headaches, and high blood pressure; she was diagnosed with scoliosis (curvature of the spine), osteoarthritis, and degenerated discs as causes of her back pain.

It became clear to me that at some point in my life I had developed these bodily responses to tension, and later they had become conditioned responses—habits. It was certainly time to change these bad habits!

By this time I had sat reading Dr. Sarno’s book for about an hour and a half [much longer than my usual 15-20 minutes]. My piriformis muscle was not hurting much anymore, but my lower back, especially my tailbone, was killing me. If I had not just learned about TMS, I probably would have lay down and used ice to ease the pain. As this pain could not make me get up, it shifted to my right knee, and later to the front of my neck, where I had never experienced pain before. It became clear to me that as real as the pain felt, it was indeed a trick that my subconscious was playing on me. It was reducing blood flow to my back, knee, and neck to cause pain in order to keep me occupied with physical symptoms."

Yes, it is a great feeling to finally understand the cause and make rapid improvements.