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Posted - 10/18/2005 : 10:47:00
Dr Sarno writes in Healing Back Pain (page 48,49): "Defenses against repressed emotions work by diverting one's attention to something other than the emotions that are being hidden in the unconscious.........To be successful it must occupy one's attention and it works even better if your are totally pre-occupied or obsessed with whatever it is. That is why physical defneses are so good: they occupy one's attention, particularily if they are painful, frightening and disabling. This is exactly happens with TMS....... As long as the person's attention remains focused on the pain syndrome, there is no danger that the emotions will be revealed.....It has been my recurrent observation of mine that the more painful the repressed emotion, the more severe the pain of TMS has been."
I quote Dr. Sarno at length because we all know that pain is a distraction from the real problem, ie repressed emotions. But it occurred to me that pain is only one method that may be used by our brains to divert our attention from our repressed emotions, and Dr. Sarno does mention, for example, excessive handwashing as one such diversionary tactic. It seems to me that pleasure or pleasure seeking can also divert our attention away from our emotions. Obsessions with sex, food, drink, shopping, etc. all serve a similar function as TMS as they too most certainly can act as a diversion. Maybe it would be helpful to compile a list of those things we obsess about and reflect on them to see of they are acting merely as a diversion from our repressed emotions. I don't think we really think pleasure as being a distraction, but when we become obsessed with it, I mean really obsessed, I have to wonder.....
Any thoughts? |
| 6 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| verdammt |
Posted - 10/19/2005 : 09:20:30
Well, one could argue that EVERYTHING serves as an escape from our repressed emotions: working, playing with your kids, exercising, reading, walking the dog, watching TV, talking to friends, etc. What's the point?
If life comes down to a choice between indulging in diversions and stewing over repressed emotions, aren't we better off choosing the diversions?
It's only when the repressed emotions interfere with the diversions, that there's a problem. (Which brings us right back to TMS, doesn't it?)
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| JohnD |
Posted - 10/19/2005 : 07:30:51
Interesting topic. I definitely agree that certain addictions/pleasures can serve the same purpose as TMS....smoking, drugs, sex/porn, food, gambling, overanalyzing everything.....are all things that seem to have a similar pattern of distraction to me |
| JohnD |
Posted - 10/19/2005 : 07:26:43
Interesting topic. I definitely agree that certain addictions/pleasures can serve the same purpose as TMS....smoking, drugs, sex/porn, food, gambling, overanalyzing everything.....are all things that seem to have a similar pattern of distraction to me |
| Stryder |
Posted - 10/18/2005 : 20:14:52
quote:
Originally posted by verdammt
What about constantly checking message boards, e-mail, eBay and the weather forecast?
Yes, the last few weeks for me have been quite distressing as I am again recalling some past events in my life. I find myself checking this forum 10 or 15 times a day. A diversion? Likely so! -Stryder |
| verdammt |
Posted - 10/18/2005 : 11:59:26
What about constantly checking message boards, e-mail, eBay and the weather forecast?  |
| cindy_gail |
Posted - 10/18/2005 : 11:32:03
I'm a professor in the counseling field, and teach courses on addictive and other compulsive behaviors. I have exposure to myriad obsessisve patterns designed to divert from pain or relieve pain. You mentioned many, and the ocd's like hand washing are a prime example (although I don't want to go out on a scientific limb and call them just emotional because of all the work that's been done with pet scans, MRI's etc., related to ocd.)
A prime example of what you're talking about I believe is self mutilation or cutting behavior. Here, for those of you who don't know the foundational reasons for this behavior, people will cut, burn or mutilate themselves physically in order to provide an outlet for the intense emotional pain that feel. It reminds me of blood-letting in a way. It is almost always associated with childhood sexual abuse with other childhood abuses running pretty far behind, but relevant nonetheless. Don't know if this is what you had in mind but thought I'd add it here. It seems very relevant. |
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