| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| mtugrad |
Posted - 08/25/2004 : 08:55:55
I've found a book that has really helped me to put my illness in perspective that I haven't heard mentioned in any 'must read' book lists.
The title is "From paralysis to fatigue: A history of psychosomatic illness in the modern era"
This book goes through the history of the different types of psychosomatic illnesses. It illustrates how what was earlier perceived as real physiological disorders over time were shown, through medical advancements, to have mental origins.
It helps to put my TMS in proper perspective when I read of all of the ridiculous symptoms people had 100 to 200 years ago. Back then, though, these symptoms were considered to be signs of real physical problems. And because the medical community endorsed the idea of the symptoms as being legitimate, there were wide spread cases of these illnesses. Once they were disproved as being real, the cases of these illnesses disappeared. What a coincidence ;)
When you read about how fainting, hysterical fits, sudden paralysis, catalepsy, inability to speak and others were commonplace and now are rarely seen because their true origins are known it helps you to understand that the mind is capable of sabotaging any bodily system it wants in order to achieve its goal of distraction. And most importantly that it does it in a way that has the patient completely convinced that what is happening is real. These people are not fakers or trying to achieve a secondary gain... this is a simple history of genuine problems.
You will begin to notice little similarities in each type of illness that also are seen in TMS symptoms today. And seeing a bit of yourself in these ridiculous cases helps to give you the power to ridicule your unconscious mind into giving up the symptoms it is currently giving you.
Some of the cases are downright hilarious. Such as one person who believed is internal organs had liquefied. Others believed the devil was controlling their limbs and making them move around.
Toward the end of the book, it shows how psychosomatic illness has moved to a new area in this recent era of advanced medicine. These are primarily fatigue and muscle pain. These two are very common now because it is very difficult to disprove so the unconscious mind can use it as much as it wants without fear of being 'caught'.
I think anyone with TMS will gain a lot of insight into themselves and their illness by reading this book. If anything it is interesting and a little entertaining.
Hope this helps,
mtugrad
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| 5 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| tennis tom |
Posted - 08/29/2004 : 10:07:29
Thanks for your post MTUGRAD. It reconfirms that any new symptom we encounter, short of a compound fracture, should be viewed with great skeptiscism. Welcome to the board.
tt |
| Sarah Jacoba |
Posted - 08/28/2004 : 01:45:18
also I should mention that this book very much supports an idea that I have put forth on this site alot of times in the past, including before I'd read it; which is that the unconscious is extremely flexible and diverse in its ability to affect the body, and that it can cause symptoms that seem difficult to trace to Sarno's oxygen deprivation model. I think the unconscious can cause just about ANYTHING to happen in the body, and this book bolsters that view.
--Sarah
"When dream and day unite" |
| Sarah Jacoba |
Posted - 08/28/2004 : 01:42:26
I have that book!!!!!!!
It's amazing the author never mentions TMS and that no other TMS book author has mentioned it. It's very complementary.
I havent finished it yet, as it gets very technical compared to all the other books mentioned on this site, and I was holding off on mentioning it until I was done with it. However, it is an excellent perspective-giver, especially in light of the facts the author never refers to TMS per se, and takes a historical, factual and relatively dispassionate view. To me this gives it more power against the inner skeptic. He cant accuse the author of simply having an agenda.
Highly recommended!
--Sarah
"When dream and day unite" |
| JohnD |
Posted - 08/25/2004 : 11:53:48
thanks for mentioning that book as well as your post |
| 2scoops |
Posted - 08/25/2004 : 09:12:52
Sounds very interesting, maybe one day I'll give it a read. I also believe that Sarno has just touched the surface on pain that is caused by repressed emotions. I believe other diagnosis today are caused by psycholical factors and it would be interesting to find out more. So maybe this book could give more insight |
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