Alan G. What if I don't have childhood trauma?

This question was submitted via our Ask a TMS Therapist program. To submit your question, click here.

Question

I was wondering if you have any advice about journaling. I had a great, loving childhood and an even better adult life. I have a few issues with my mom, nothing too serious, and I pretty much journaled them all out in the first session and I have nothing else to write about. And even those issues have come up as an adult, so I don`t know what to look for in my happy childhood. Am I supposed to try to remember if someone gave me a wedgie in first grade or something? Is that really related to my TMS pain? What do people with good childhoods do to cure TMS?

 

Answer

Hey Troy,
Many people with TMS have a perfectly good childhood. TMS is not necessarily about childhood trauma. The evolutionary purpose of psychogenic pain is to warn you against a perceived threat, and once the threat has been addressed, the pain abates.

But what if you grew up in an environment where you didn't feel entirely safe, or somewhere along the line your relationship with fear was corrupted, and everything becomes a perceived threat:

Fear of getting yelled at, fear of being ignored. Fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of confrontation, of certain social interactions. You may have a fear of certain foods, certain physical positions, certain chairs.

You may have an unconscious fear of your own powerful emotions- anger or sadness.

Fear of losing your money, fear of losing your hair. Fear of getting sick, fear of eating of gluten. Fear that everyone else can get rid of their pain, but you're that one exception.

When everything becomes a perceived threat, then the system goes haywire, that's when this psychogenic pain can become chronic, because you're perceiving threats everywhere you look. This thing that evolved as a protective device is getting hijacked. Because you're in a constant state of fight or flight.

This is not a pain problem you have, it's a fear problem. The pain is just the consequence.

So the way to overcome psychogenic pain is to fundamentally alter your relationship with fear. To essentially teach your primitive brain that the world is in fact safe.

Alan

---

Any advice or information provided here does not and is not intended to be and should not be taken to constitute specific professional or psychological advice given to any group or individual. This general advice is provided with the guidance that any person who believes that they may be suffering from any medical, psychological, or mindbody condition should seek professional advice from a qualified, registered/licensed physician and/or psychotherapist who has the opportunity to meet with the patient, take a history, possibly examine the patient, review medical and/or mental health records, and provide specific advice and/or treatment based on their experience diagnosing and treating that condition or range of conditions. No general advice provided here should be taken to replace or in any way contradict advice provided by a qualified, registered/licensed physician and/or psychotherapist who has the opportunity to meet with the patient, take a history, possibly examine the patient, review medical and/or mental health records, and provide specific advice and/or treatment based on their experience diagnosing and treating that condition or range of conditions.

The general advice and information provided in this format is for informational purposes only and cannot serve as a way to screen for, identify, or diagnose depression, anxiety, or other psychological conditions. If you feel you may be suffering from any of these conditions please contact a licensed mental health practitioner for an in-person consultation.

Questions may be edited for brevity and/or readability.