Recent content by Back In Control Blog

I quit my surgical spine practice in 2019 because I was seeing so much surgery performed on normally aging spines. They were causing severe damage to people’s spines and destroying their lives. Frequently, the impact was catastrophic. At the same time, I was witnessing hundreds of patients...

It is well documented in the medical literature that chronic stress kills. Why? It is because when you are exposed to threats in any form, your body goes into a defensive survival state of “flight or fight” where you are consuming energy. When this is sustained, your body utilizes energy from...

Objectives Processing anger is more doable if it is broken down into its components. Anger is a powerful, necessary, and hard wired survival reflex. You cannot tame it with the conscious brain. It is an acquired skill that requires ongoing “adult education” in order to refine it. Framing the...

Objectives Anger is a hard wired automatic survival reaction, and it is impossible to get rid of, conquer, or transform it into a more constructive experience. We are not programmed to be vulnerable, so we don’t have a good reason to give up anger, nor will we ever want to. Anger is protective...

Objectives Many of us become upset about the state of the world, which is definitely worrisome and disturbing. However, you have no control, your nervous system is fired up, and there is not an endpoint. We all have plenty of problems that we have to deal with without adding on ones that are...

Objectives Perfectionism is felt by many of us to be a virtue. It is reflected in terms of, “high standards,” “excellent quality,” and “strong work ethic.” It is actually a disguised version of anger directed at yourself. These ideas actually become translated our minds as, “not good enough,”...

Objectives Most patients in chronic pain are frustrated and angry, whether they recognize it or not. Why wouldn’t they be? They are trapped by unpleasant sensory input. Unresolved anxiety is the driving force behind anger. Anger is your body’s concerted neurochemical last ditch effort to...

Objectives: Since the body’s response to threats affects every cell in your body, it feels like part of who you are. We spend a lot of time attempting to avoid this intentionally unpleasant sensation when it is necessary for life and also overpowering. We are trapped in life by our anxieties...