Educational Program Day 26

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Educational Activity: As people begin to get better there is a tendency to begin to worry and fear that the pain might return. Fear and obsession will almost always keep someone in the pain cycle, and make recovering from TMS/PPD very difficult. Alan Gordon discusses how fear negatively impacts TMS patients in the TMS Recovery Program’s Recognize Destructive Behaviors section. Today's educational reading is a wiki article that explains how to overcome relapses and includes a short article on the effects that fear has in treating chronic pain. The page is called Relapser's curse - there is hope, by Skizzik.

Ask a TMSer: How do you tell people, i.e. family, friends, co-workers, about TMS?

MatthewNJ: "I just explain it as Dr. Clarke does, Stress induced, and as soon as they roll their eyes, give up on it and don't take it personally. only 10-15% of folks are open to it to begin with. In my mind it does't really matter if my family buys into it. I would like them too, but it is more important that I do, and I move down my path of recovery." marshacohen: "I would not discuss TMS with anyone unless I had some idea they would be able to accept the idea of TMs. Most people , at least those I have spoke to about TMS are not very receptive to the idea and therefore are not very supportive . Sometimes their attitudes can be damaging to recovery." 2Scoops: “I just tell them that our bodies are reacting to fear, stress and tension. Over time the chemistry of our bodies change from thoughts, stress and then we have symptoms. I try to keep it simple." Penny4Them: "I told few people. In the beginning I wanted to tell people my latest diagnosis, for sympathy perhaps, but more so I realized that I wanted to see in others that they believed in TMS before I would. I was trying to convince MYSELF of TMS theory and not them. To this day (4 years after my physical revelation), my family and even my husband do not understand, but I understand they are not the ones who need to understand TMS, it's me who needs to understand. The most important person you need to tell is YOU!If you feel compellled to tell folks, I'd investigate what you expect to get out of sharing this. TMS is your personal problem."

Journaling

Take some time today to delve into how your personality traits affect your condition. Instead of just journaling about what sort of traits you have, try to journal on where you think those traits come from. What events, people, and interactions have led to you having these specific traits. What keeps you acting in the ways that you do? By focusing on these questions you will be able to connect how your personality affects your health. One trait of my personality is that I am __________________________________. I have this trait because

Question To Ponder

When was the last time you talked with your parents? How did the conversation go? If you feel comfortable sharing, then post your response in a thread in our Structured Program forum. We would love to hear from you.

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