Tips for Overcoming Conditioned Responses?

I have come to realize that I have conditioned my brain over the last 4 months to experience a huge increase in pain in specific positions. My safest position is laying down, but I've also had pain while laying down. My conditioned responses seem to be bending at the waist (cleaning, picking something off the floor), sitting at my computer chair at work, stretching a certain way, and sometimes even walking. I mean, what structural issue or condition would explain this? I am sure my brain thinks there is one out there.

Today, I challenged myself to sit in my computer chair. To my surprise, I ended up sitting for hours. Yes, I did have pain. Did I cry through it? Yes I cried. My pain was really, and I mean really, putting up a fight today. At one point I got up and decided I need to lie down. I lied down for maybe a solid minute before I got back up and said, No, I am not going to let this take over my life. Sitting is completely benign and harmless. So I went back and sat down. The pain really increased and I mean, it brought me to tears. I felt all sorts of emotions in that moment. I had to belly breathe and shift my thoughts to how I was feeling in that moment. Then something weird happened. It moved somewhere else, and then it moved to another place. The pain calmed down to maybe a 4 instead of an 8 in my original spot. Of course my stupid brain is trying to rationalize why this is still a structural problem even though I have a long evidence list.

My question is, what is the best way to overcome conditioned responses? Are there any helpful tools or tricks you've used? It seems like mine are all over the place and my brain really had time to "condition" itself to all sorts of weird things.

 

I'm finding self compassion is going a long way. This used to be very foreign to me.

 

Use your higher, rational, logical brain to override your primitive brain which is responsible for the conditioned response. I think I got this technique from Dr. Schubiner where you use self talk. For example, you could say to yourself or out loud, "There's no logical reason why sitting should cause pain, so just knock it off brain." It sounds silly and too easy, but I found this eventually worked for me in getting over my conditioned response in developing migraines.

 

I will definitely be using this. I told my husband if he hears me talking to myself to not worry about it, lol. I am also watching some great videos on self-coaching from Dan Buglio. They have been very helpful and soothing.

 

Hi all. I didn’t want to start a new thread since it is somewhat related so I am posting in here.

Is it possible to have a conditioned response to exercise? Certain movements cause me pain. I’m putting in the work with MBS and have been seeing progress with other conditioned responses. But I noticed I have fear around pain during exercise and the doubts start creeping in that I’m hurting myself (I should know better). I still have a long ways to go with TMS.

Realistically, I should know that you can have a conditioned response to many things. This has been a big fear of mine. TMS pain during exercise. I think of it ahead of time prior to starting and get disappointed when it happens. Fitness has been a huge part of my life for many years. It’s one of my hobbies. Unfortunately before all this, I pushed myself too hard with exercise, to an obsessive unhealthy degree. I think it was the perfectionist in me. For whatever reason I associated pain with exercise or created fear around exercise when I began having symptoms a day or so after the exercise that just spread all over. So there’s that fear there. Especially when it feels so structural and real. To me it makes sense but I wanted to get someone’s input if I should back off and do more healing without exercise. I don’t want to get into avoidance behavior. @JanAtheCPA @Ellen

 

Yes..it is possible to have a conditioned response to ANYTHING and what most people miss in Pavlov's work is that it only takes a time or two...not long periods of conditioning...and once the association is there? It needs to be UNdone or it will keep coming back.

If all of this 'self-love' and 'acceptance' stuff doesn't work and you want to get out of pain fast, you can always try MY preferred method,

I have posted this on many strings before, but...

First. Review Sarno. This is because of repressed RAGE... not from lack of self love and acceptance. Good. Let's put away the tools that don't apply to this job. In fact, I have never picked up those tools at all and I got out of pain FAST. I am still out of pain 25 years later.

Now..We are gonna work out ALONE and we are going into the workout with the tools we do have.That would be your primary rage makers that you are aware of....yes, TMS is caused by repressed rage, but mercifully, it doesn't require us to solve them or no one would recover. The ones you are aware of like failed relationships, your messed up parents and friends will suffice just fine.

Now, go about your workout. As the pain comes IMMEDIATELY and FORCEFULLY shift your attention to your sources of rage..."

The pain will try to distract you..this is the front line in a battle and you must fight it alone if you want to be fully liberated.

The reason you are gonna work out alone is , to anybody else, you would sound like a raging Tourettes-syndrome-suffering-lunatic, but we don't care what other people think anymore, so we're gonna say "F--k 'em" and continue on.

As the symptom rises focus on that anger and frustration. Feel you resistance to Dad, Boyfriend, girlfriend, politicians, bosses and other DEMON's in your life and Cuss them out... extensively...at the peak of your histrionic ability. Lose it.

Cuss out the TMS....Talk to it like a possessing entity...because that is what it is.... Cry if you need to, but any time you catch yourself slipping from your feeling of absolute revulsion and rage do anything you can to get back in that state WHILE you keep doing your workout..

Make it clear to that DEMON that you are no longer listening to it , you don't care what it has to say and you are Mad as hell and not playing with it anymore.

This usually only takes a couple of times...sometimes it only takes ONE time. It is your calm cool collected 'self accepting, loving , nice self" that got you in this state..we're gonna Lose that person. Oh , you can go back to that later, but this is a special situation. When I am remodeling a house we don't gently pry off a board or two here and there...we take a sledge hammer and Crow bar and destroy the thing we don't want so the new thing can be built in it's place. Time to break some stuff!

have a nice day.

 

Great comment, Baseball. Thanks.

I don't have pain during my workout, but the morning/day after. During my workout I have a manageable pain and I feel really great in my body, mentally also.

 

I realized I never replied back and thanked everyone on this thread - so sorry it's so late!

Jan, I realized I misread your reply. In the midst of those worst days when I posted this thread I thought you wrote "physical therapist" which made my brain very nervous that it was physical. A personal trainer is a great suggestion and I am open to personal trainers in the future!

Baseball65, I've been applying your suggestions throughout my workouts and just whenever my TMS likes to creep up, lol. I cuss it out, roll my eyes at it, shout at it and go on with my day. And yes, it works

I realize I DO in fact have a lot of repressed rage. Before, I didn't think I did. I'm not sure where I learned that it's not okay and to put on a fake gentle, loving, kind face. I think it may come down to how others may perceive me.