| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Bento |
Posted - 07/13/2010 : 14:24:03
Are children with problems also suffering from repressed rage? |
| 10 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| hopeacres |
Posted - 07/20/2010 : 20:42:34
Hi,
I have a seven year old daughter who is very tender and 'in tune' to her mama. When I struggled with terrible Interstitial Cystitis when my girl was 5 she suddenly developed allergies. We took her to many doctors who just told us to put her on some allergy medication. We took her to our naturopath who ran some tests and said her adrenal glands were exhausted. He looked at us in confusion and asked, "What could such a young girl be so stressed about that her adrenal glands would be exhausted?" So my husband and I began talking to her and asking her if she was afraid of anything that she wanted to talk about. We thought of all kinds of creative ways to get her to talk about what was going on inside of that cute head of hers! Finally, one day she blurted out, "I am afraid you are going to die, Mama!" I took her in my arms and assured her that the bladder problems I had were not going to kill me. I then told her that I am healing from it. I learned a good lesson through all of that... even when I think I am doing a good 'hiding' pain from my daughter she knows. So now my husband and I always talk openly to her and invite her to share her feelings. Well, about two weeks after her sharing her fear with us her allergies mysteriously disappeared and did not come back until recently when I fell down a flight of stairs and severely tore ligaments in my foot. My daughter's body erupted in allergies two days after my fall. This time my husband and I went right to work on drawing out our girl's heart and sure enough she confessed to having nightmares about my fall and thought I was dying when I landed at the bottom of the stairs. (She was, unfortunately, right behind me when I fell)
Just thought I'd share on the matter of children with TMS! Watching my dear, sweet daughter... I am positive children react with TMS not due to repressed rage but more like what others are saying; more due to stress and fear. |
| alexis |
Posted - 07/20/2010 : 18:24:51
Hi Art,
I think what we would be trying to test is not so much that TMS'ers have more rage, but that the "rage" areas light up when rage is not perceived by the subject to be occurring. That would be how I would understand a test of the theory anyway.
I don't know whether TMS'ers have more rage, and am not even sure if that's theorized or if it's just that there's more suppressed rage? I'd have to go back and check as it's been a while since I read those bits.
But I do think it may well be possible to at least test the theory that TMS'ers have "more rage of which they are unaware". But no, I agree you couldn't prove a causal connection easily, but a simple correlation would be enlightening in itself.
As for the idea that, even with correlation, they may be more angry because they hurt, perhaps a control group who have what we know are "real" pains could be helpful. Find those whose brains show similar amounts of rage, and see if the diagnosed non-physical group are less aware of their rage at any given level.
I don't really know on this specific emotion cluster if we really have the technology yet and I'm pretty much just thinking out loud here...but I wouldn't write it off as completely untestable.
Yeah, I don't really know how the results would pan out. I'd like to see in general though if TMS'ers prove to be less emotionally self-aware.
Alexis |
| art |
Posted - 07/20/2010 : 13:29:16
Perhaps Alexis, but I can't see how this would work in a practical sense. I tend to doubt TMS'ers are actually more full of rage than non-tms'ers. If you wanted to posit that, it would be quite a contention with all sorts of implications. Moreover, it could easily be argued that some people are wired to be more reactive to any rage they feel than others...consciously or otherwise....so now it wouldn't be just a simple matter of comparing whose brain "lights up" more in a certain area...
Eidt: Just to add, even if you could somehow demonstrate that people with injuries have more rage, I still don't see how you could show a causal connection. Maybe they're angry because they're hurt, not the reverse...
Still, it's all interesting stuff. As always, just my opinion.
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| alexis |
Posted - 07/19/2010 : 20:52:17
quote:
Originally posted by art
I've a hard time buying rage myself, if only because there's no way to test the hypothesis.
I actually think that while it isn't currently, to my knowledge, tested, it is to a good degree testable. When people engage in "blindsight" the part of their brain that "sees" reacts, even though they aren't aware of seeing. This brain activity is clearly visible in brain scans (fMRI).
Similar activity is seen in people with alexithemia who are not "aware" of their emotions.
So if "rage" is going on we should be able to detect it as a rage pattern using modern technology.
And sure, it might be. But it's not really essential to my understanding, though I do explore the idea fairly regularly. |
| Teddybear |
Posted - 07/19/2010 : 16:13:14
I have to admit that I can't say anything confidently regarding children, repressed emotions or a combination thereof. For pretty much the same reasons already mentioned by the other members.
However, I do recall several childhood (which, by the way, isn't extremely long ago in my case) anecdotes which might or might not be tms related.
For instance, when I was a kid, I had some symptoms that some members on this board would call tms equivalents. Take hayfever, allergies and astma for example, I was diagnosed with both and received medication for the latter. However, I do not remember ever being restricted by either symptom in my daily activities. Whether my eyes were extremely red and itchy or not, I (or any other 11-year-old for that matter) would still play outside all day.
Also, a couple days after my father bought me a gameboy colour, I developed what both doctors and laymen nowadays would call a Blackberry thumb/ rsi. Of course, my hyponcondriac mother rushed me to the local GP. Fortunately, our GP agreed with me and assured my mum that it wasn't anything serious. Not once did I neglect my pokémon for the sake of ''saving my hands''. That gameboy was the only computer I owned. I didn't have internet access, nor friends/neighbours who suffered from rsi, so I never learned that such an injury could be chronic and recovery might be lenghty. I don't remember exactly how long it took before the pain completely vanished : I didn't monitor it. I was too busy : after returning home from school, training my virtual pets and helping other kids from my block with their game when the doorbell rang (goodist alarm!) took priority over my boring, uncooperative thumb. Suffice it to say that my thumb recovered long before my pikachu reached level 100.
The bittersweet thing is that I didn't recall the above-mentioned incident when I was in the midst of my tendonitis/rsi fiasco 2 years ago. Or maybe I did, but somehow immediately repudiated it and convinced myself that ''things are different this time''. There were, afterall, hundreds of members on the rsi forum I frequented, who eerily suffered from the same symptoms. But I digress.
Permit me to wrap up this post by quoting a random TMShelp member :
Doctor, it seemed so real.
It was real.
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| art |
Posted - 07/18/2010 : 08:23:33
quote:
Originally posted by Capn Spanky
Just speaking for myself here. I never really connected with the idea of repressed unconscious rage. That concept was just a little too mysterious for me. Instead, I consider it plain ol' repressed emotions and feelings. The kind of emotions we encounter every day.
Either way, the way to get better is pretty much the same.
I agree with this. I've a hard time buying rage myself, if only because there's no way to test the hypothesis. I prefer to think of my TMS symptoms as manifestations of stress, fear, and anxiety. Since these emotions are physical in nature themselves of course, the psychosomatic link to me seems nearly self-evident... |
| Capn Spanky |
Posted - 07/16/2010 : 07:30:27
Just speaking for myself here. I never really connected with the idea of repressed unconscious rage. That concept was just a little too mysterious for me. Instead, I consider it plain ol' repressed emotions and feelings. The kind of emotions we encounter every day.
Either way, the way to get better is pretty much the same. |
| Hillbilly |
Posted - 07/15/2010 : 21:40:39
Bento,
This issue is very controversial and probably one of the biggest theoretical holes that needs to be filled. I also experienced what I wouldn't call symptoms as a child, but very strong fear reactions that came on like a summer storm and made a strong impression on me. So, my mind got conditioned that whatever I was doing was evoking the reaction and I began to avoid those things. It's pretty simple, really. It seems more plausible to me that it is a direct expression of emotion and not something hidden away in the cobwebs of the unconscious. Either way, the pain isn't a problem that is worthy of your worrisome obsession, and that is the most important thing to remember.
As a child, the reservoir of rage was probably not even beginning to fill back then, at least in my experience. I now believe that I was born with little resistance in the nervous system, and loud noises, shouting, loud, bass music, and many other things would disturb me and make it difficult for me to focus. I believe this is one of the reasons I began to peel away from others and become a loner. I knew I was different and had these reactions, so I better stay clear of those kids that like to live on adrenaline rushes, I thought.
It took actually being told what those reactions were and actively building up resistance to keep them at bay. I think, in all fairness, this is part of what Dr. Sarno is attempting to tell people to do, but it sure isn't clear or explicit in his writings. Either way, it isn't at all necessary to accept the reservoir of rage part, but I sense you are attempting to find holes in the theory, and they are certainly there, but I'm not sure it is the best exercise for curing yourself.
I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.
Ralph Waldo Emerson |
| Dave |
Posted - 07/15/2010 : 11:12:32
Looking back, I had plenty of TMS symptoms in childhood. |
| art |
Posted - 07/14/2010 : 12:08:02
quote:
Originally posted by Bento
Are children with problems also suffering from repressed rage?
I had what in those long ago days were called "growing pains.' Terrible aching in my legs, mostly at night. I've read that Sarno considers those TMS.
If you're skeptical that children have rage, I disagree. However, buying the whole rage concept is not in my experience all that important to treating psychosomatic symptoms. Accepting that they're not structural in origin is often all that's required. |
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