| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| tennis tom |
Posted - 09/29/2006 : 10:36:06
On page 87 of Dr. Sarno's THE DIVIDED MIND, there is a passage that simplified, clarified and summed up TMS for me. Being an un-reformed TMS goodist, I am compelled to quote it; (I inserted the bold emphasis):
"...Freud and his followers, considered psychosomatic manifestations as a form of illness representing defective personalities. I strongly disagree. Psychosomatic phenomena are not a form of illness. They must be seen as part of the human condition-to which everyone is susceptible. They include a wide range of disorders, some very serious and even life threatening, but our view is that they may all be traced back to the primeval conflict between our two minds, the uncoscious and the conscious, the id and the ego and supergo, the ancient "paleomammalian mind" and the modern "neomammalian mind," each mind reacting in the only way it knows to the pressures of daily life." |
| 20 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| marjrc |
Posted - 07/12/2010 : 16:33:09
These are definitely great reminders! Thank you. :) |
| walnut864 |
Posted - 07/01/2010 : 14:24:51
quote:
Originally posted by tennis tom
From page 104 of Dr. John Sarno's THE DIVIDED MIND:
"You can study the anatomy, physiology, and chemistry of the brain forever and a day, but it will teach you nothing about the psychosomatic phenomena, nor about emotional disorders like depression for that matter...the deviations from the normal...are not the cause of the disorders but the result of the emotional phenomena...it is emotions that drive the chemistry in the brain not the other way around. Altered serotonin chemistry is not a disorder, it is an emotionally induced chemical reaction resulting from the the true symptom which is depression."
How the h*!! did I miss this? I've read the book several times and dont recall this. I really like this. No clue why I cant remember reading it. |
| tennis tom |
Posted - 05/01/2007 : 08:43:11
I dedicate this excerpt to Shortcake for the fine wisdom she displays.
From:
To Be or Not To Be...Pain-Free--The Mindbody Syndrome
by Marc D. Sopher, M.D.
Page 36:
"Think differently, undo the conditioning, re-program your mind. For some this will come naturally and they will see results quickly. For most, this will be hard work. This is about changing habits and change rarely comes easy."
some of my favorite excerpts from 'TDM' : http://www.tmshelp.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2605
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| tennis tom |
Posted - 02/16/2007 : 09:24:35
From Dr. John Sarno's THE DIVIDED MIND:
Chapter Ten: "A Family Doctor's Experience With Mindbody Medicine"
by Marc Sopher, M.D.
Page 348:
"...it is a process of self-education that will help you feel better. It is amazing--no medication, no physical remedies, and no side effects...read and reread my book and Dr. Sarno's books...Even when you feel well, spend some time each day on this material. This will help you to remain well. It is good preventive medicine."
Dr. Sopher's website is at www.themindbodysyndrome.com
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| tennis tom |
Posted - 02/11/2007 : 21:42:14
From Dr. John Sarno's THE DIVIDED MIND:
Chapter Ten: "A Family Doctor's Experience With Mindbody Medicine"
by Marc Sopher, M.D.
Page 348:
"Discard Your Physical Remedies
Get rid of the special back supports, heel pads, orthotics, pillows, chair cushions, and so on. They cannot fix the problem, and you don't need them. Physical modalities cannot help symptoms that have a psychological cause. Their very existence is part of the old conditioning and will only perpetuate the symptoms.
If you are taking narcotic pain medications, you will need to wean yourself off these gradually under a physician's supervision. Similarly, you should also wean yourself off of benzodiazepines
(such as Klonopin, Ativan, Valium, Xanax, etc.) These medications only mask symptoms and cannot cure them. In addition, they are physically and psychologically addicting and will only perpetuate the symptoms. They will also impair cognition and interfere with your efforts at self-education.
It is reasonable to take non-narcotic medication for pain, such as aspirin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen or naproxen (all available over the counter). However, each time you do, it is important to remind your-self that these drugs will not fix the cause of the symptoms and will just temporarily take the edge off while you continue to apply yourself mentally.
There are a myriad of other medications prescribed for the host of ailments discussed here. In most cases, medications can be safely discontinued, but this should always be discussed with your physician first."
Dr. Sopher's website is www.themindbodysyndrome.com |
| tennis tom |
Posted - 02/08/2007 : 06:59:10
From Dr. John Sarno's THE DIVIDED MIND:
Chapter Ten: "A Family Doctor's Experience With Mindbody Medicine"
by Marc Sopher, M.D.
Page 350:
"RESUME ACTIVITY
You are not really well until you are back doing the activities you formerly enjoyed. While you may have to start slowly (it is still necessary to follow appropriate guidelines for exercise training), you should be able to do whatever you want. We are capable of far more than we have been told. I think very few of us approach our potential because we have been misinformed about the limits of our bodies. I have patients in their sixties, seventies, and eighties running marathons, bicycling across the country, climbing mountains, and participating in other strenuous activities. They are not supermen and superwomen; they are simply folks who have taken good care of themselves and refuse to believe that they are fragile."
Dr. Sopher's web site is: www.themindbodysyndrome.com |
| tennis tom |
Posted - 02/06/2007 : 07:27:39
From Dr. John Sarno's THE DIVIDED MIND:
Chapter Ten: "A Family Doctor's Experience With Mindbody Medicine"
by Marc Sopher, M.D.
Page 340:
"Sadly, the majority of patients that I introduce to TMS concepts are not receptive. I would estimate that only 10 to 20 percent are intrigued and enthusiactic. The interested ones are often relieved to hear that I do not believe that they have a serious physical problem or disease. They may even be overjoyed to learn that I am going to recommend only some reading and the use of their brains. This group is happy not to have to take medications or be referred for some other treatment. Why is it that more do not respond this way is beyond me. As a society, we are becoming so passive that we wish to be recipients of treatment as opposed to active participants in our health and wellness. As for others, as soon as they hear me say psychological or discuss the role of stress, they may tune me out or get angry. They may feel that there is a stigma associated with anything psychological and that I do not really understand them. And one dare not use the term psychosomatic!
Dr. Sopher's website is: www.themindbodysyndrome.com |
| tennis tom |
Posted - 02/02/2007 : 17:09:28
From Dr. John Sarno's THE DIVIDED MIND:
Chapter Ten: "A Family Doctor's Experience With Mindbody Medicine"
by Marc Soper, M.D.
Page 344:
"...the unconscious mind is the site of repressed and suppressed emotions. It is where the reservoir of rage lurks...I think it provides a compelling image for the origins of pain.
To summarize: Dr. Sarno has identified three potential sources for this rage in the unconscious. In each person the quantity from each source will vary.
1. Stresses and strains of daily life
2. The residue of anger from infancy and childhood
3. Internal conflict (self-imposed pressure--the clash of the id
and the superego; it also comes from perfectionsit and goodist
traits)
Dr. Sopher's website is: www.themindbodysyndrome.com
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| tennis tom |
Posted - 02/02/2007 : 16:52:46
"It is impossible to know what is in your unconscious (hence the name unconscious), but it is possible to contemplate what might be there. By acknowledging the presence of these unpleasant thoughts and emotions, you can thwart the brain's strategy."
Dr. Marc Sopher pages 347-348 TDM |
| tennis tom |
Posted - 02/01/2007 : 19:46:09
From Dr. John Sarno's THE DIVIDED MIND:
Chapter 10: "A Family Doctor's Experience With Mindbody Medicine"
by Marc Soper, M.D.
Page 347:
"Why do some people, who agree they have TMS, get better more quickly, others more slowly?...
...Why do some people feel better after just reading my book or one of Dr. Sarno's books?
I have puzzled over this and concluded that the "rapid" healers are somehow better able to put aside what they have been told in the past and fully integrate the TMS information. They can undo the conditioning that is part of mainstream thought and replace it with this new understanding of how the workings of the unconscious can affect the body and physical sensation."
Dr. Sopher's website is: www.themindbodysyndrome.com |
| tennis tom |
Posted - 01/30/2007 : 22:57:15
From Dr. John Sarno's THE DIVIDED MIND:
Chapter 10: "A Family Doctor's Experience With Mindbody Medicine"
by Marc Soper, M.D.
Page 342:
"...life is stressful. Even if we are happy and feel good about our families, jobs, and finances, we all experience stress. Stress, anger, and conflict arise from three main sources. There are, first of all, the everyday issues such as our home and work responsibilities, worry about our children, worrying about our parents, inconsiderate drivers, the long line at the market, and the like. Second, some of us have experienced much emotional distress in childhood. Even if we have made peace with it, that distress is still there, a potential source of umpleasant feelings. Third, our own personalities also predispose us to these troubling emotions. If we have high expectations of ourselves, if we are ambitious and place great demands on ourselves, if we are very conscientious about our performance, then these perfectionist traits are causes of stress. If we go out of our way to help and care for others, even to the point of self-sacrifice, then these "goodist" traits also create stress as we make our needs subordinate to those around us."
Dr. Sopher's website is: www.themindbodysyndrome.com |
| tennis tom |
Posted - 01/30/2007 : 06:22:07
From Dr. John Sarno's THE DIVIDED MIND:
Chapter 10: "A Family Doctor's Experience With Mindbody Medicine"
by Marc Soper, M.D.
Page 343:
"...it is essential to understand how these very qualities can contribute to the accumulation of stress, anger, and conflict. The way our brains work, we repress unpleasant thoughts and emotions, which then find a home in the unconscious. This is a very good defense mechanism--it allows us to move on and take care of our responsibilities and be nicer people that others like and respect. Unfortunately, we can only hold so many of these unpleasant thoughts and emotions in the unconscious. Accumulated anger, stress, and conflict become rage. This rage wants to rise to consciousness, but we usually do not let this happen. If it were to happen, we might rant and rave and do things that would not be acceptable, things that would make others not think well of us. To distract us from these unpleasant thoughts and emotions, our brain creates pain, real physical pain. In our society it is acceptable, even "in vogue," to have certain symptoms, such as back pain, headaches, and acid reflux. When we focus on our pain, we are distracted from these causes of rage. This is a brillant strategy on the part of the brain. Why does this occur? No one can know for sure, but we know this happens because by learning about it, we can stop it. We can stop it and thereby eliminate the pain."
Dr Sopher's website ie: www.themindbodysyndrome.com
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| tennis tom |
Posted - 01/28/2007 : 21:36:33
From Dr. John Sarno's THE DIVIDED MIND:
Chapter 10 "A Family Doctor's Experience With Mindbody Medicine"
by Marc Soper, M.D.
Page 339:
"Why are physicians so reluctant to embrace TMS theory? For one thing, it is difficult to measure. The scientific approach mandates that any treatment be evaluated by formal testing, involving control groups, "blind" evaluations, "double blind" protocols, and the like. Too often, TMS physicians are dismissed by colleagues who state that the TMS treatment results are "anecdotal." The implication is that our results are invalid because we do not employ a scientific protocol. Unfortunately, a control study would be impossible because therapeutic success in the treatment of TMS requires that patients accept the fact that their symptoms have a psychological basis. If patients cannot repudiate the structural explanation for their pain (a disk problem, a heel spur, carpal tunnel syndrome, etc.) and attribute the pain instead to TMS, they cannot get better. In a control study, patients are assigned randomly to two or more treatment methods. If most of the patients assigned to TMS treatment cannot accept the diagnosis for reasons to be discussed, the study is invalid. The nature of TMS puts us at great disadvantage in such studies."
Dr. Sopher's website is: www.themindbodysyndrome.com |
| tennis tom |
Posted - 01/27/2007 : 07:37:53
From Dr. John Sarno's THE DIVIDED MIND:
Chapter 10 "A Family Doctor's Experience With Mindbody Medicine"
by Marc Soper, M.D.
Page 336:
"...on any given day I will see three or four people who wish evalutation of chronic or intemittent symptoms of a broad nature. They may complain of pain in the back, neck, shoulders, arms, wrists, hands, hips, knees, feet, abdomen, genitals--anywhere. They often come in believing they have and should be diagnosed with arthritis, disk disease, tendinitis, bursitis, sciatica, rotator cuff tear, iliotibial band syndrome, migraine headaches, irritble bowel sydrome, dyspepsia, gastroesophageal reflux disorder (GERD), carpal tunnel syndorme (CTS), plantar fascitiitis, temporomandibular joint sydrome (TMJ), to name a few. Often, they believe that their work is to blame. Other times, they believe they have an "old injury" that never healed or that they have simply "worn out."
Many have already had many types of treatment, with no response to some and only temporary response to others (placebo). These treatments have included oral medications, injections, massage, surgery, orthotic devices, and so on. They do not have longterm success because the treatments are based on erroneous diagnoses. Treating a psychologically caused symptom with a physical modality like those noted above is bound to fail."
Dr. Sopher's website is: www.themindbodysyndrome.com |
| tennis tom |
Posted - 01/26/2007 : 19:49:47
From Dr. John Sarno's THE DIVIDED MIND:
Chapter 10 "A Family Doctor's Experience With Mindbody Medicine"
by Marc Soper, M.D.
Page 336:
"Not all pain is due to TMS. However, I do believe that the majority of chronic pain and recurrent pain does not have a structural-physical basis, but a psychological-physical one"
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| tennis tom |
Posted - 01/22/2007 : 12:38:49
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| vnwees |
Posted - 01/22/2007 : 08:39:19
tt, et al;
I, too, am finding these reminders helpful. Thanks!
Vicki |
| armchairlinguist |
Posted - 01/21/2007 : 09:26:49
quote:
It is not uncommon for a patient who chooses to treat their physical disorder through Dr. Sarno's methods to begin to experience life in a more genuine way--in other words to become more aware of emotions as they really occur. However many individuals would find living life in a more genuine manner more difficult than the physical pain they are experiencing because they would have to acknowledge painful parts of themselves or painful emotions buried deep inside their unconscious mind....
Furthermore, our society is not supportive of expressing those painful emotions we all harbor. As I noted before, we are a society that is uncomfortable with crying or grieving, and view those who become overtaken with the emotions as weak.
Friday night I went to see a movie, which turned out to be very powerful emotionally. In past times I might have been able to repress some of my feelings about it, but I seem to have less of a habit to do that now, and so I found that I was actually experiencing the emotions of terror and sadness and pain and anger. I was sobbing at the end and couldn't stop until the credits were almost over. But I was the only person in the whole theater with such an intense reaction. (I imagine some other people did cry, but no one else seemed to be in such pain.) Even knowing why there might be such a difference, I felt very weird about being so upset.
--
Wherever you go, there you are. |
| tennis tom |
Posted - 01/21/2007 : 05:37:31
From page 328 of Dr. John Sarno's THE DIVIDED MIND:
Excerpted from Chapter Nine,
"Structural Pain or Psychosomatic Pain?", by Douglas Hoffman, M.D. :
"I have observed that there are several common questions patients express with regard to the treatment of psychosomatic disorders. Foremost is the question of how to "figure out" their understanding that life is too stressful and therefore they must eliminate stress in order for the pain to go away. Of course, this thought process is not correct. First, psychosomatic disorders arise from the unconscious mind, which is where the emotions reside that, for the most part, we are unaware of. Not only is it not possible to directly access these emotions, but it is not necessary for successful treatment for most individuals. Succesful treatment requires one to simply acknowledge that these painful, umpleasant, often threatening emotions exist. It is not necessary to "figure them out." Treatment is about acknowledging their existence not changing them. Stress is unavoidable and a part of life. Acceptance, then not only means accepting one's pain as psychosomatic, but also coming to terms with our genuine self, both the parts we like about ourselves and the parts we don't like. Accepting our painful unconscious emotions as part of who we are is not only a step toward successful treatment but a step toward being a more whole human being." |
| tennis tom |
Posted - 01/18/2007 : 20:55:28
From page 321 of Dr. John Sarno's THE DIVIDED MIND:
Excerpted from Chapter Nine,
"Structural Pain or Psychosomatic Pain?", by Douglas Hoffman, M.D. :
"We should not forget the power of these emotions. For many, it is easier to suffer with physical pain than it is to acknowledge the emotional ones. Furthermore, our society is not supportive of expressing those painful emotions we all harbor. As I noted before, we are a society that is uncomfortable with crying or grieving, and view those who become overtaken with the emotions as weak. It's no wonder we often feel alone with our emotions and desire to keep them repressed. There is often no support to help grieve life's disappointments, challenges, and losses that we all experience as human beings." |
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