Welcome to the Forum for the Structured Educational Program

Welcome to the forum, @Mrpine. I am also 71, but I discovered Dr. Sarno and this work in 2011. I got my life back thanks to the good doctor, along with other resources like the SEP, and especially Claire Weekes for anxiety. Feel free to read my profile story from back then, with my list of resources. I've been hanging out here ever since, because I love being a part of this community where other people are getting their lives back.

You might relate to my experiences and observations. For one thing, I feel that managing TMS has been more difficult the last few years which I think is a combination of world dysfunction even before 2020, then COVID, and now ever-worsening environmental and social problems - such that it's widely acknowledged that the world is in a mental health crisis. It's even more important for me personally to acknowledge that the reality of aging also plays a part, which was named as a source of rage by one of the other authors in Sarno's last book, The Divided Mind (that was my light bulb moment). I mention this to you because we are the same age, and it's something we simply can't avoid thinking about once we are past the middle point of our lives. It's also prime material for repression.

Always good news when they can't find anything wrong! You undoutedly know that our guts are often the first place we experience stress, whether it's outside stressors, or the stress of repressed emotions. I defintely had alarming gut issues in 2011 - I was losing weight rapidly, and I had eliminated so many suspected problem foods from my diet that I was living on the "white diet" when I discovered TMS. This was in addition to other TMS symptoms, especially dizziness. The quickest symptoms I resolved were various pain ones, followed by the digestive issues. The dizziness is the symptom that returns with setbacks, and heartburn has been a stress-related issue for years, but I use relaxation/breathing techniques for both these days.

I've maintained an active lifestyle throughout the years, and sought out additional exercise programs since before age 60, which imho is essential to health, along with a decent diet, so you've got a head-start by being fit, because you can feel good about that. I achieved a high level of TMS recovery in 2011 and early 2012 thanks to this work, and maintained it pretty well for a long time, although it got tougher starting in about 2016 due to the ramping up of world dysfunction. Then in the spring of 2020 I developed sudden-onset RA, brought on by stress (my opinion). It's well-maintained on a low dose of the most basic standard medication, helped by exercise and trying to de-stress (not easy for a serial goodist). So I would say I've achieved a level of recovery which in spite of everything I'm still able to maintain at well over 80% about 80% of the time, which is still phenomenal compared to eleven years ago when I was rapidly on my way to becoming housebound.

The RA complicates things, especially as I feel I could achieve remission with a serious commitment to mindfulness (and I'm working on not beating myself up for that). RA has to be taken seriously as a medical condition requiring intervention even if it was induced by stress. Ironically, the traditional medical community states emphatically that stress makes RA and other autoimmune conditions worse, but they are completely unwilling to state that stress can cause AI conditions. Go figure.

This is probably all TMI, but I guess what I wanted to get across is that you are definitely in the right place, but also that this work is not necessarily going to be a linear path to complete recovery. There are a lot of moving parts, and the path is different for everyone. Take it all in, try out different things, and stick with the ones that really resonate for you.

It is vital to do the work with a serious commitment to self-honesty, because your brain will try to trick you into not being honest, to edit what you write, to move through a resource or an exercise too quickly, or to skip over stuff that it doesn't want you to examine. Do not be fooled!

At some point your brain is also likely to come up with new and/or increased symptoms in order to make you think that this work is harmful and that you need to stop. Of course, if you can stop, breathe, and think logically, you'll realize that just reading and writing can't possibly be damaging you physically. We always view new or worsening symptoms as good news - because it means you're on the right track. Feel free to report on them (and rejoice) if they happen - although forewarned is forearmed, so who knows? Everyone's experience is different!

Good luck!

~Jan

 

Hi @Geri D,

If you go to the main page for this subforum you'll see that most people create a new thread for themselves, often for a single day. This is all completely voluntary, as many people never write publicly. Posting while I did the SEP is how I got started here. Anyway, you can do that, or you could start one new thread just for your SEP posts and keep adding to it with individual posts (you can find it each time by going to your Profile page and clicking on the tab for your postings.)

There are no rules or even clear guidelines, which makes a forum like this feel kinda like the Wild West for TMSers who like things to be under control. This is good for our fearful brains, as we learn to accept that we can't control everything (sometimes nothing) yet we can still survive just fine

Jump on in and go for it!

 

OMG, @Jak, I'm exhausted just reading your post!

Do NOT fall into the trap of taking on too much. Doing this is actually a trick produced by your fearful brain, and, as evidenced by your state of confusion, it's a wonderful TMS capital D Distraction!

Or, as I like to say, THIS is your brain on TMS!

The very best advice I can give you in this moment is to stop, breathe, and take a caring and compassionate look at yourself. You might be able to realize that your poor freaked-out brain is in a panic because you're starting to reject the symptoms that have previously kept you in fear. And so now it's trying to induce panic in you!

Please believe me when I say that there is NOTHING so urgent about this work.

Mind you, I am very excited for the success you're already experiencing, and I also really love the fire hydrant metaphor! And I get it - this is a lot of information, and to be honest, there's a lot more available out there in the wider world than when I did the work in 2011.

That being said, I've never understood this:

and I guess it just goes to show the big differences between individuals. I read just one book by Dr Sarno, and it happened to be his last book, so I saw no reason to read the earlier ones. Apart from the 20/20 TV segment I never read, watched or listened to him again. I thought he did a brilliant job distilling his main theory in The Divided Mind. I found this forum, worked the SEP, and found other books which were not about TMS as such, but were instead complimentary to TMS theory: specifically controlling anxiety, followed by exploration of the much bigger picture of the mindbody connection from a lifelong perspective of physical and mental health and self-healing.

Right now, you need to slow down and for goodness' sake, keep it simple. The purpose of the SEP is to introduce you to ideas from sources other than Dr Sarno, and, most importantly, to introduce you to a choice of skills and techniques that you will want to incorporate into your emotional self-care for the rest of your life.

The SEP is not perfect, partly because it's never been updated. Accepting imperfection is good practice for the TMS personality.

My advice for doing the SEP is to limit the lessons to one per day. Seriously, your brain will try to convince you that more is better and that faster means quicker recovery. Your brain is trying to protect you by telling you falsehoods. You must gently reject it.

Fill the rest of your time with mindfulness, exercise, and self care. Live your life. If you have anxiety (don't we all?) read Claire Weekes - not more Sarno. I have no problem stating that Dr Sarno saved my life in 2011, but honestly, his theories only go so far, and certain aspects are a little outdated. Once you get the main idea about emotional repression and distraction, it's time to just do the work.

This is a great time to learn about the value of therapeutic breathing and think about making a commitment to an ongoing mindfulness practice.

My profile story has a list of other resources I've valued over time. I didn't do Alan's program because he donated it to the Forum several years after I did the work. However, I have listed two live audio programs that he did for the Forum back in, I think 2012. These two webinars were fantastic and very influential for me. I do think Alan is quite brilliant, and his latest book on pain reprocessing therapy is undoubtedly excellent.

So that's a little bit of tough love, from me to you. I hope it's helpful!

~Jan

 

To isolate part of a post that you want to specifically respond to, just highlight it, and then click or touch on the word "reply" that (magically ) appears in a small bubble at the lower right of the highlight. How you do the highlighting depends on whether you are using a mouse or a touchscreen, but it's a technology skill that you probably already know how to use.

Good job picking up on this! Lots of people automatically hit the "Reply" link at the bottom of someone's post, which quotes and copies the entire thing before their own response - which is almost always a redundant waste of space! IMHO, it's much more useful to either highlight and Reply/Quote selectively, or don't use that feature at all - just respond in the blank box.