| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Motby |
Posted - 06/28/2005 : 07:52:14
Over the last 10 years I have had four or five back problems that have prompted me to go see a chiropractor. Most of the problems were sports related, not stretching or warming up prior to a game of racquetball, for example. In most cases I’d go the chiropractor get adjusted and within 24 hours be walking around as if nothing had happened. Maybe it was just a placebo effect, I don’t know. The point is the problem went away without my having to get in touch with buried hostilities. Now at age 57 I have back and leg (sciata) pain that won’t seem to go away despite visits to the chiropractor and other stop gap measures. I am now a student of Dr Sarno’s methods and have been reading posts on the Forum, which by the way are very helpful. My question is this: Why, if repressed emotional issues are behind the pain we feel would it take this long for them to manifest? I don’t get it. If I had so much emotional hostility stored away in my subconscious why would it appear now and not at an earlier time? I’m just trying to better understand the dynamics involved with TMS.
Motby
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| 10 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Dave |
Posted - 07/01/2005 : 09:07:27
Listing your potential sources of rage is a good first step. Read that list (or add to it if you can think of more items) every time you are aware of the pain. Try to be as specific as possible. For example, don't write "I'm mad at my boss." Write "I hate my boss because he always takes credit for my hard work."
If you're lucky enough to have some of those feelings bubbble to the surface, then go with it. If you find that you're pissed at someone, punch a pillow and imagine you are beating the crap out of that person. Scream at the top of your lungs -- tell this person what you really think of them (of course, do this when you are alone  ).
It is insightful for you to say that acceptance and forgiveness are the same. Once you face your true feelings and accept them (or if you're able to, experience them) it is like a weight is being lifted. You have faced those horrible emotions that your brain deemed so dangerous, yet they weren't so dangerous after all. You have chosen to experience emotional pain rather than physical pain.
There is no magic cure. Even if you have a breakthrough and cry your eyes out over some newly discovered feelings, TMS does not just disappear. It requires doing this all the time, especially when you are aware of the pain. Soon it will become second nature. Each day, you take one more step towards undoing the conditioning. |
| n/a |
Posted - 06/30/2005 : 22:34:56
Motby
Ask yourself what was taking place in your life at the time of the onset of your pain. Also look at your personality traits as mentioned in Dr. Sarno's books and childhood experiences. Link these to the onset of your pain. Something has been building for years and why the pain now is that something- and you only know what - broke the camel's back and all this is happening now. Deeply repressed emotions are threatening to surface to your waking consciousness and your brain is doing all it can to ensure that does not happen. Read the pshycology secitons of Healing Back Pain and MindBody Prescription over and over again. Express your feelings in a daily journal and share with people on this board. If you have a close friend who understands and will listen that is also helpful. My wife and I have long discussions and I think she will not get TMS (at least I hope she won't) as she understands it so well in advance. |
| art |
Posted - 06/30/2005 : 20:19:43
Dave wrote quote:
If you truly believe in TMS now, then:
1. You know that stretching or warming up does not decrease your chance of injury.
I have trouble buying this one...or at least half of it. I know stretching doesn't do anything. In fact, there are studies out now that conclude that stretching before an activity actually increases chances of getting injured.
But certain athletic activities it seems to me really want a warm-up. Let's say you're a pitcher. Or a sprinter. Even a golfer getting ready to tee off... |
| Motby |
Posted - 06/30/2005 : 18:10:35
Dave,
Although I’ve read Sarno’s books and recently saw his video I’m still in the process of learning how all of this comes together to make one pain free. OK, I have drawn up a list of things that I suspect are contributing to my pool of unconscious rage. Now what? Do I need to dive any deeper into the pool or is simply being aware of the potential sources of rage enough to affect a cure? How should one address an issue that floats to the surface? As an example, if we feel that someone in the past has taken advantage of our good nature, and when we think about it, it pisses us off what then? Does forgiveness come into play at some point or do we just accept it and move on (which is really what forgiveness is in a way)?
Sorry for all the questions, but I liked your earlier response about “Search for things that should be bothering you but aren't”.
Motby
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| Dave |
Posted - 06/29/2005 : 09:00:01
quote:
Originally posted by Motby
Over the last 10 years I have had four or five back problems that have prompted me to go see a chiropractor. Most of the problems were sports related, not stretching or warming up prior to a game of racquetball, for example. In most cases I’d go the chiropractor get adjusted and within 24 hours be walking around as if nothing had happened. Maybe it was just a placebo effect, I don’t know.
If you truly believe in TMS now, then:
1. You know that stretching or warming up does not decrease your chance of injury.
2. Those "sports injuries" were probably TMS all along.
3. The chiropractor treatment was absolutely a placebo.
4. You don't have to "get in touch with buried hostilities" to successfully treat TMS.
You are making a bold assumption that your symptoms now are a delayed reaction to old repressed emotions. That is not the way TMS works. The symptoms are designed to prevent the pool of unconscious rage from overflowing into consciousness. The unconscious rage is an unknown. Its ingredients are different for everybody.
It is likely that something is going on in your life right now (or when the symptoms began) that you have not addressed. Search for things that should be bothering you but aren't. |
| Carolyn |
Posted - 06/28/2005 : 16:48:58
I think withdrawls include the things we are already doing to get rid of TMS. Writing in your journal to difuse the emotions festering in your subconscious, getting enough sleep, proper nutrition so that physical stress doesn't add to the pool, excercising, taking vacations, getting a massage, reading a book and other things that are 'being nice to yourself'. Also probably giving love or hugs or feeling loved. According to Stoll and Benson, eliciting the relaxation response through meditation is a very efficient way to speed up the withdrawl process. I don't know from personal experience but meditating does leave you with that sense of peace that has to be good for you one way or another.
And, I suspect that not making so many deposits is probably just as important if not more so in reducing the pool of rage than making more withdrawls. This could be trickier since the whole process is on a subconscious level. But clearly, reducing your stress and changing all the negative chatter that is always going on in your brain ought to end up pissing off your inner child a little less.
Carolyn |
| Motby |
Posted - 06/28/2005 : 12:13:51
Carolyn,
I like your visual of TMS deposits and withdrawals. It makes more sense to me when viewed in this light. Any suggestions on how one might be more proactive in making withdrawals to prevent TMS episodes from occurring?
Motby |
| Carolyn |
Posted - 06/28/2005 : 11:12:02
I like to think of it as- you get symptoms when deposits into your pool of rage exceed the withdrawls. I think it can be cumulative and there is a threshold you have to cross. AT least this is my working hypothesis now. A very stressful event can make a big deposit and push you over the edge. Otherwise it can be a result of a habit of not dealing with negative emotions (deposits) and not taking good enough care of yourself (withdrawls). It just may take some people longer to reach this point than others
Carolyn |
| 2scoops |
Posted - 06/28/2005 : 09:02:52
Why it took so long for your symptoms to manifest is unimportant and can slow down your progress. I had my first attack on my back at 16. I wish it took me to my forties or fifties, but the fact remains that I am experiencing it now, and I now know why I have the pain. That it the most important thing. We know have the tools to rid ourselves of this pain, and we need to focus on that and stay the course. TMS can affect anyone, at any time. There's no set formula as to when the pain starts. The point is, that the pressures, repressed anger, emotions keep adding through our lives. We make deposits, some more than others. Some have more deep rooted deposists such as abuse. The mind gives us physical pain, because of the rages and repressed emotions. |
| art |
Posted - 06/28/2005 : 08:52:01
Motby,
No one can answer these questions but you. What is going on in your life currently?
Besides, you ignore the fact that you had TMS four or five times already. On the one end, you wouldn't have gotten hurt by not stretching before racketball. And on the other, chiropractors don't do anything that would have cured you in a structural sense. |
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