| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| chicago |
Posted - 10/04/2005 : 20:11:17
Anyone try a formal cognitive theraphy program? What was your experience? Was it helpful? |
| 6 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| chicago |
Posted - 10/06/2005 : 17:50:09
I agree I think CBT and TMS can work together, but for each person the mix may be different. For me TMS is primary and CBT is secondary if that makes sense. |
| Caroline |
Posted - 10/06/2005 : 15:32:01
quote:
Originally posted by johnnyg
By changing your thinking (not necessarily your personality), you can greatly reduce your level of conscious stress (anger, sadness, etc.).
Hello everybody,
I have not posted for months. I did this purposedly because I found myself obsessing way too much about TMS. I am now seeing a psychologist and trying to uncover the thought processes that trigger anxiety and anger (and eventually muscle pain)and reprogram them. That is in fact CB therapy. I must say I have given up on the idea that my particular brand of TMS is related to subconscious anger or at least that there is anything I can do about it. I have done a lot of work (journaling, etc.) but I find that analyzing thought processes works much better.
Example: I would normally start panicking when something goes wrong at work, get angry at the people involved and eventually suffer major TMS. I find that if I reassess the actual threat level in the situation and plan my reaction, I can short-circuit the TMS process.
I have also found that taking the time to go "inside myself", talking to myself and willing the pain away does work.
Just wanted to share this since I feel so much better now. Not sure whether it will help anyone else or what it even means about the TMS theory but frankly, as long as it works, I am not trying to make sense of it!
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| n/a |
Posted - 10/06/2005 : 07:52:38
Although it is not referred to as "cognitive theraphy" I find the work of Byron Katie (see www.thework.org) to be the most amazing I have ever read on examing and questioning the thoughts that come into my mind. It has helped me immensely with my TMS and other areas in my life.
For all you insomniacs I also highly recommend: "Say Good Night to Insomnia : The Six-Week, Drug-Free Program Developed At Harvard Medical School" - by Gregg Jacobs, PhD. An excellent example of mind/body medicine as the read is challenged to examine and then change their behavoir and attitudes regarding sleep. He does go into cognitive theraphy in his book. All my assumptions about sleep and restfulness have come crashing down like a house of cards |
| johnnyg |
Posted - 10/06/2005 : 07:39:11
There is a small minority on the board who believe that some CBT can be helpful for those suffering from TMS, I am one of them. It does not treat TMS directly, but rather assists is an indirect way. I'll explain my theories on this.
Conscious stress factors, anxiety and depression all contribute to make TMS a full blown pain sydrome. I did not make this up, others recognize this as well. By changing your thinking (not necessarily your personality), you can greatly reduce your level of conscious stress (anger, sadness, etc.). See Hilary's post on 'depression as equivalent", second paragraph. For example, if you turn your beliefs and thoughts into 'musts' or 'shoulds', you create a great deal of strife when those things don't happen. So by adjusting your thinking to preferences, when things don't turn out your way, it's not the end of the world. There's more to it than that, but that's the gist.
So, if you reduce conscious stress, etc., it becomes possible to reduce the amount of emotions that become suppressed out of necessity (not repressed, which happens automatically). When you do this, you lessen the amount of unconscious rage that accumulates (the "pool" of rage) to cause the need for pain as a distraction. It would be folly to think that there isn't anything else we can do in our lives to help with the problems created by TMS. The trick is finding the line and drawing it at the right place or you risk bringing your TMS cure to a standstill!!! |
| cameroid |
Posted - 10/05/2005 : 21:58:24
Yes, this interests me as well. CB would seem to be antithetical to the psychoanalytic Sarno approach. CB argues that the underlying cause or triggering incident is unimportant in treating the condition. But I wonder if the two approaches could be combined. I suffer from a disorder that has only been known to respond to CB, but I've found TMS theory to be so interesting and helpful for other things that I'd like to bring into my CB efforts somehow. I wonder if others have had this experience. |
| chicago |
Posted - 10/05/2005 : 18:47:49
I just read back through the threads on cognitive T. It seems that it has its place but uncovering unconsious rage is more important. I feel if I can just let go I will feel alot better. |
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