Repressed Anger and Exercise

Hi Marymouse, and welcome.

I believe that Dr. Sarno might have changed his mind about that statement in his later life. I only read his last book, which was The Divided Mind, and by then he was clearly saying that some people with severe chronic conditions beyond the back pain that he generally dealt with during most of his career, might in fact need psychotherapy in order to recover. Remember, he was a physiatrist - like a physical therapist with an MD. So he pretty much dealt with muscle conditions, although by the time he wrote Mindbody Prescription he was beginning to suspect that other conditions could be TMS "equivalents". I think we've come a long way since then.

Some of Dr. Sarno's "disciples" include Dr. Howard Schubiner, MD, whose workbook, "Unlearn Your Pain" was, I believe, a big inspiration for the early volunteers who designed our Structured Educational Program (SEP). Another one is Alan Gordon, LSCW, who himself designed and graciously donated our second program, the Pain Recovery Program. Both of these programs are based upon discovering the deeply repressed emotional issues that we all have been carrying around since childhood.

Dr. Sarno was certainly right when he said that the anger being expressed is rarely what the true rage is about. The simplest example I can give is the anger that you feel when you're cut off in traffic. You're enraged by the selfishness and carelessness of a stupid a-hole, right? But the true source of your anger is a much deeper and more primitive emotion, which is that your freedom and your safety have been threatened by a stranger who has violated your personal space. This is just ancient biological territorialism, transplanted to the modern world.

Remember that Steve is one of those people who had specific pain in one place. Fibromyalgia is a whole 'nother thing, and is accepted by all in the TMS community as being a TMS equivalent. I myself was probably on the edge of it, and had many types of symptoms, from pain, to digestive, to neuro. Through it all I maintained a regular program of exercise with a trainer (who specializes in clients over 50 - I'm 67 now) as well as regular walking. But it was discovering Dr. Sarno, this forum, and doing the SEP, that changed the downward direction my life and health were taking back in 2011.

So now, when an old hip injury is acting up, I go ahead and do more leg lifts and hip openings, with the attitude that I don't have to give in to it, it's something I can get over. I've had two disk bulge incidents since 2011 (crippling spasm of my lower back) and I go ahead and do more cobra push-ups, while visualizing my spine opening up and relieving the pressure. HOWEVER: I also have to do some writing/journaling at the same time, to discover what recent events or thoughts might have caused my brain to decide that it needed to distract me. Because it's not that I did something "wrong" to cause the disc bulge/spasm - I know that. With any recurring symptom, it's always my brain that is the instigator. Being proactive about uncovering my emotions, along with an attitude that there's no serious injury, and a visualization of quick recovery, takes care of it in short order.

~Jan