Placebo?

Hey everyone. I created an account here today to ask you all one question. Are the results of the tms program a placebo? For me, I chose to believe in TMS when I heard Howard stern say it cured his OCD. I was amazed. How could anything cure a mental disorder? I decided to purchase the book Healing Back Pain. Upon reading, I realized it made perfect sense. I applied it, and my OCD was gone. It'd come back every now and them buy I could eliminate any symptom simply by acknowledging it as a distraction. I had no fear. I them beat my chronic allergic rhinitis, and back pain. I could also stop my migraines.
After all this success, for some reason I have begun to have doubts or fears. Can this all be a placebo? Sarno has said that it cannot be a placebo because it is the information that cures and there is no "healer". But perhaps because you think that you're healthy, you become healthy. Can somebody please help me understand why TMS is far from a placebo?

 

"... But perhaps because you think that you're healthy, you become healthy."

Your above statement sounds good to me! Since about 80% of what ails wo/man is TMS, created by the unconscious as a psychological defense mechanism, why cannot those TMS dis-eases and conditions be reversed by retraining/reconditioning the mind to reverse them?

 

I understand TMS and think that it makes perfect sense, but what if it's just a placebo effect? Can it be? After all it is the mind curing the body.

 

I went to a wedding today for the daughter of my physical therapist who I have known for over 18 years. I have not seen her in over a year because when I first started working on the TMS it was difficult for me to protect myself from her belief in the structural causes of my pain. At the wedding there were several of my close friends who are also friends with this physical therapist. A big part of our friendship and closeness is that we have all suffered from chronic pain in the past and worked with this physical therapist who has helped us. One of my friends was talking about how she had the entire lower part of her back fused five years ago and how that changed her life. She believes this is what cured over ten years of chronic back pain. How will we ever know for sure? Some in the TMS world say these kind of surgery cures are placebo. She believed it would cure the pain, and it did. I had back surgery 20 years ago and it didn't completely cure my back pain. I personally don't think it really matters if it is placebo or not if it works. She will never be able to bend the lower part of her back with the kind of fusion she had. There is no real down side to working on TMS. Sometimes the symptoms can move around while we are working on recovery and that can be very disconcerting and uncomfortable but it is not a dangerous side effect. You are having such wonderful success, I would just focus on that and enjoy it. Support your success by thinking of it in a positive light and not questioning if it is a placebo and opening the door for doubt. That's why I didn't say anything to my friend who was cured by back surgery about TMS. She is happy and painfree and that is what matters.

 

This is a tautological argument I believe--or perhaps a conundrum.

 

Then I ask... what is a placebo... Its something you believe in. "A substance containing no medication and prescribed or given to reinforce a patient's expectation to get well." This TMS journey for me has been the gateway to finding out what I really believe on so so soooo many levels. It's why I never comment to others who go to their doctors, get the surgeries, etc... because if the belief is there, who am I to say it won't cure them? Bravo to you for the success in healing that you've had!

 

I'm with those who believe in TMS but if anyone like "Deleted" thinks TMS healing may be a placebo, they're welcome to think so.
I think TMS healing is much more than a placebo. It really relieves pain through believing the pain is psychological and not structural.

I would just be glad I healed.

 

But what if rather than your repressed emotions being the cause, the only reason you get better if because of the placebo effect? I hate doubting tms because when I do, my symptoms return. Besides, I can't do the program not believing in it. Can anybody prove this wrong? Sarno has said in his books that the reason what he offers isn't a placebo is because simply reading the book can cure you. I'm having a trouble understanding how that can't be a placebo.

 

I'm not sure it's proof that will satisfy your question, but faith and belief. I have been a fan of alternative health/new age for 15 years now, and because my mind was open to alternative options it was easier for me to resonate with the TMS information. In that 15 years I really did question my beliefs. I really wrestled with what is real and what is not real to me. I have decided that I have not chosen the path most people follow, my beliefs are different. I have wrestled with not fitting in with the main stream. I have come to the conclusion I am a fringe dweller and this is a good thing. So, add to the list of faith and belief - acceptance.

When wresting with beliefs I have discovered what is real is the opposite of what one thinks is real. This is a philosophical and spiritual jump. Maybe being well and happy is our natural state, not an unnatural state. The problem with TMS'ers is that after being in pain and being restricted for so long, we have come to believe this is our natural state. If you think of a placebo a being a temporary state that offers you some benefit maybe being sick and in pain is the placebo.