| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| moose1 |
Posted - 10/08/2004 : 09:44:28
Hi all,
I know two people who have recently come down with "disc problems" in their necks, resulting in terrible arm pain. Based on both of their current life situtations and personalities, it is SO obviously TMS that it's frightening. Sarno could use either of these people as poster children for who gets it and why. I am tempted to recommend MBP to at least one of them but I am hesitant simply because of the typical "are you insane?" reaction I know I would get. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I won't bother going down that road because I don't think it's worth the hassle of trying to "convert" people. But their pain so clearly TMS, and both are going through the usual useless sham of doctor visits, PT, cortizone shots and on and on...all of which has of course done nothing at all.
Has anyone dealt with this conflict before? I'm sure many have. Is it worth it to recommend Sarno to friends?
thanks,
Moose |
| 3 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| n/a |
Posted - 10/09/2004 : 11:56:35
Hi Moose
I think that Menvert and Suzanne have said already most of what I think about this as well. In the main, most people are reluctant and sometimes annoyed at the suggestion that there could be a psychological factor in their pain condition.
When you think about it, it's not surprising really - we are bombarded non-stop with news of the latest 'breakthrough'. In the last couple of days alone, I've read about an aromatherapist in my area who has invented a new wonder cream for arthritic conditions (based on herbs and other smelly stuff), a magazine piece based on the 'fact' that one in seven British people (that's over 8 million people) now suffers from an arthritic related problem and had an offer in the mail of something called the 'BackLife' - the first and only machine in existence that uses CPM (Continuous Passive Movement) to treat back pain. This sort of stuff is drip, dripping into our brains all the time.
We are encouraged for a whole variety of reasons to believe that our bodies are weak, unadaptable and in need of ever more expensive treatments. The BackLife costs £249 - that's $425 approx., by the way. I used to be an easy touch for this sort of stuff. I had a special straight backed chair (uncomfortable and ugly), a special roll cushion for my back when driving, a TENS machine, a back stretcher which looked like a medieval torture instrument and a drawer full of creams, gels, magnetic sticking plasters. I saw a chiropractor, three different physios, took lessons in the Alexander Technique (that one was quite good in fact). Getting away from the physical is a huge leap.
It wouldn't surprise me if many of us who post here think back to when we first began to notice pain that wouldn't go away, we also would have been resistant to Dr Sarno's ideas. I know that I would have been. We are brought up to expect to be healed by doctors or other health professionals (I have had excellent help over the years for illnesses that were not TMS), so when I was told that my chronic pain was caused by a partially collapsed vertebra making the disc below protrude, I believed that diagnosis for years. The fact that my pain was located far away from the offending disc should have been a clue, but it took loads of treatments, tests, medications etc etc - all failing to have any impact at all, to make me start researching for myself.
Looking back, I don't think that I would have accepted at all the TMS theory, until I was ready to hear it.
As Suzanne and Menvert say, you could bring up that you have been helped by MBP and offer to lend it to your friends. You could add something along the lines of, 'It may not apply to your problem, but you never know.' It might be an idea to let the book speak for itself rather than you describing the condition beforehand.
Whatever you decide to do - good luck. |
| menvert |
Posted - 10/08/2004 : 20:56:48
yes,
it's very difficult to decide exactly what to do.
My experiences with telling people about me having TMS has generally been abysmal. I'm not sure I would have much more success telling other people they have TMS.
Sometimes the best thing is, making it apparent to them that you have had chronic pain that you have gotten/getting over it and basically wait to be asked how did you do it.
or just suggesting stress may be involved and then maybe later, going into it a bit more deeply. people can more readily accept 'stress is a significant factor' as opposed to saying your brain is causing the pain! lol
Maybe 'accidentally' leave behind a couple of photocopies from the book or 'accidentally' add their name to an e-mail....
For many people, the resentment is being told what is wrong with them by an upstart like us....
Either way, I find it very useful to avoid 'RAving' I know how exciting it can be when you find somebody you can actually talk to about Sarno... but it is easy to lose them/scare them off for ever in your excitement by explaining the entire thing... so hold back dropping the entire TMS bomb at once lol , little by little does it. |
| Suzanne |
Posted - 10/08/2004 : 10:13:15
Hi Moose,
I think it depends on the person. Some will react as you described, but others might be glad you've given them a hopeful resolution.
When the book was suggested to me, I was given 5 photocopied pages and told about who Dr. Sarno was. I immediately ordered the Mindbody Prescription. I was desperate and open-minded, and those few pages were enough to convince me that anything is possible.
On the other hand, when I realized a friend of mine was a complete poster child for TMS, as you noted with the people you know, I suggested the book and gently explained the TMS mechanism, with help from Kim Ruby's info on her website, tarpityoga.com. Well, that didn't go very well, and the friend was highly insulted. He was angry that I suggested MBP and even suggested a connection with his emotions, yet he'll agree emotions play a role with pain. So, you never know what to expect.
I recently went back to a forum I was on many years ago, before I knew I had TMS. I'd been diagnosed with Coccydynia. I went to the forum and found a few people who just posted that they now had pain, out of the blue, with no injuries, and it was getting bad. One was fired from her job due to not being able to sit. I emailed 3 of them all about TMS and Dr. Sarno, MBP and our board here, plus the info found on tarpityoga.com. Two wrote back that they were going to go out and pick up the book, and would let me know how it goes. (it sure beats having your coccyx surgically removed!)
A friend of mine (11 years) has very bad RSD since early 2003. Even he is now reading Dr. Sarno's books and in psychotherapy. He had a serious traumatic injury and does have nerve damage. But the mere mention in MBP of RSD led him to want to read the books.
So long post short ; you either take a chance or you don't. They might evil-eye you after or be hugging you within weeks. |
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