Pain science blog post

Hi all,

I know the blog Pain Science is one that many of us have referenced and followed here on the forums, and I just came across this post by the authors about his own struggle with chronic pain. Normally he does a pretty good job debunking structural theories of pain, though he is not a TMS advocate. This more personal post just really struck me, as I got hopeful reading it but then sad for him...he realizes his pain is basically psychosomatic but doesn't make the leap that we have here to commit to treating it psychologically. It makes me really want to reach out to him but I know you have to come to TMS of your own accord! It also just really highlights the continued stigma of anything mental health related, I feel for him. Here's to hoping he'll come around to our approach someday and get relief from his pain.

http://www.paulingraham.com/chronic-pain-tragic-irony.html (Chronic Pain and Tragic Irony)

 

Oh my, this IS sad! It seems that people with fibromyalgia have the hardest time accepting the mind-body connection, especially the strong connection to emotional repression.

 

Yes Paul ingraham’s website was the first important website i found one my search for real ‘help’ on pain.
And it has stayed that , together with this wiki untill this day. I think its the best of both worlds. Don’t think he does not believe in mind body connection.
His website is the best out there when it comes to being a huge pain information platform. Maybe this nasty experience he is going thru will even provide more knowledge . and bring him better days
I truely hope so !

 

So all that stress! Is it psychosomatic then? Am I a “basket case”?
Definitely maybe. This is the other big reason for the stigma of fibromyalgia. A strong pattern of diverse sensory and nonspecific symptoms with no objective signs of medical trouble tends to suggest psychosomatic illness. My symptoms are so diverse that it would be tough for one or even a couple diseases to cause all of them, but there is almost no limit to how much crap our own minds can inflict on us.

I often fall into the habit of assuming that psychosomatic symptoms are mostly minor because they are “just” psychological. While there are lots of minor ones, there are also plenty of surprisingly dire psychosomatic symptoms (excellent 15-minute lecture there). So I have to admit — in the absence of evidence to the contrary — that my symptoms could be the medical equivalent of being convinced by a hypnotist that I can’t pull my hands apart.

Many times my symptoms have escalated to the point that would have sent any sane person to a hospital. But I’ve been through eleventy-one of those crises, and I know the drill: the WTF-symptom-of-the-week will back off eventually, never to return, or not for weeks or months. This habit my symptoms have of backing off “just in time” also smacks of psychology to me. (Or, of course, just good ol’ regression to the mean.)
____

there is hope for him...