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Sis
USA
19 Posts |
 Posted - 07/06/2004 : 22:34:04
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Does anyone else find that an anxiety attack and/or fear can actually cause your physical symtoms to get worse? This seeme to happen to me and it just blows my mind-yet at the same time I question whether it is really the fear that is increasing the symptom or a coincidence. Just latelt Iv'e noticed that at times when I am feeling afraid and/or anxious my hands start to feel like I don't have control of them-sorta numb-more like weakened motor skills-control over my fingers? Is the subconcious really that on top of things that it can make you think or feel worse when you are in a "fear attack"?
cyn |
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n/a
374 Posts |
Posted - 07/07/2004 : 01:48:05
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What you describe is very familiar to me, Sis. Anxiety definitely brought on my TMS - in my case lower back pain. I found that I had to work at dealing with the anxiety as well as the psychological work outlined in Dr Sarno's work.
I did this by having sessions over a few months with a very good psychotherapist who believes that physical pain can be caused by supressed negative emotions. I also read widely on anxiety conditions. Gradually, over the course of the last year, the anxiety lessened. I still get pain from time to time, but it is far less severe and short lived. In fact I am returning to work, part time, after the school summer break. I had retired early from teaching because of the dreadful back pain. |
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Susie
USA
319 Posts |
Posted - 07/07/2004 : 10:23:39
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Fear and anxiety are directly related to affecting your symptoms. I have found this to be true time after time. The most important way I have found to stop the cycle is to realize that I am doing it. That's really all it takes. Like Rick Carlson describes the gremlin, just notice the gremlin running away with your thoughts. When you feel the fear coming on like a runaway train, just stop for a second and see yourself building anxiety. Once I was able to break it down, I was able to stop it most of the time. If you choose to give your gremlin a few minutes to indulge himself in "what if" go ahead. It's up to you. After a few minutes, tell him he's had enough and go think about something else. The control of fear is all yours. For me, the realization of this has played the largest role in my healing. Good luck to you.
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April
USA
14 Posts |
Posted - 07/07/2004 : 12:48:31
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quote:
Originally posted by Sis
Does anyone else find that an anxiety attack and/or fear can actually cause your physical symtoms to get worse? Is the subconcious really that on top of things that it can make you think or feel worse when you are in a "fear attack"?
Hi Cyn
Yes, overcoming fear was a critical step in my healing. Fear of increasing pain from doing activities I'd given up due to TMS and associated with the painful area. Sarno calls this kind of fear conditioning. We tell ourselves doing something will cause more pain and its important to work through this to get better.
Small baby steps ("glimpses"), even if it hurts at first, while telling yourself over and over there is no physical reason for the pain is the recommended approach.
Anxiety itself causes tension which is part of TMS pain. I believe anxiety is also referred to as a TMS equivalent - a form of the distraction or defense mechanism from feeling our painful emotions.
I believe you will benefit from working out your fear / anxiety. Don't let setbacks get in your way, the healing path is not a straight line.
April |
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Sis
USA
19 Posts |
Posted - 07/07/2004 : 15:13:16
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At times the anxiety seems like it is creating the symptoms. Everyone talks about ir increasing and/or affecting them, what about creating them. Does anyone feel that it creates symptoms. It's all numbness related stuff. First my leg or my arm starts to feel really weird like "creepy", and tingling and partially numb and then that scares me and it all gets worse and worse. Many times I can stop myself from going into a full blown panic but the symptoms still stick around.
cyn |
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Susie
USA
319 Posts |
Posted - 07/07/2004 : 15:31:26
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| I'm convinced that anxiety creates symptoms. At times of great anxiety I have suffered a varied amount of equivalent symptoms , so much so that when I know a stressful event is upcoming, I wonder what symptom will befall me. Now , however, I try to stop the process with that thought because I know that I can stop the symptom if it occurs. I'm starting to get some confidence im my control of tms and that confidence is as self-fullfilling as the negative thoughts. |
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Sarah Jacoba
USA
81 Posts |
Posted - 07/08/2004 : 01:29:43
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I would go further and say that fear *is* the pain. Like everything that is a generalization, yet I have found after dealing with TMS for 10 years that essentially fear or anxiety and pain are two sides of the same coin, they are the same thing. pain is just the physical expression of anxiety for people with habitual TMS. so dealing with the pain as a physical pathology is going down the wrong road. you have to deal with your mindstate
--Sarah
"When dream and day unite" |
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tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 07/08/2004 : 08:48:26
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quote:
Originally posted by Susie
I'm convinced that anxiety creates symptoms. At times of great anxiety I have suffered a varied amount of equivalent symptoms , so much so that when I know a stressful event is upcoming, I wonder what symptom will befall me. Now , however, I try to stop the process with that thought because I know that I can stop the symptom if it occurs. I'm starting to get some confidence im my control of tms and that confidence is as self-fullfilling as the negative thoughts.
Susie,
Congratulations! You are a TMS success story. You've recognized that fear of a stessful upcomming event was causing TMS symptoms to arise. These symptoms were able to distract you from having to deal with the issue. I have a theory that these symptoms are perhaps a sympathy gaining device--a form of surrender, "Don't attack me I'm injured, I give up". Of course, this is all happening on a sub-conscious primitve level. I think it might be like a cornered animal lying down, asking for mercy before the kill, hoping the predator is just playing with it and not really hungry. Perhsps it's a form of pre-shock, an attempt to lessen the pain of the coupe-de-grace, with a long drawn out form of pain instead.
Having the knowledge that the phyical pain is a ruse to prevent us from facing life head-on is empowering. We gain true self-esteem by dealing with the situation head-on, make a decision, right or wrong, accept the consequences of the decision, and move on. The alternative is to squander our short life on this planet and live in pain. |
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Dave
USA
1864 Posts |
Posted - 07/08/2004 : 09:07:23
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quote:
Originally posted by Sarah Jacoba
I would go further and say that fear *is* the pain. Like everything that is a generalization, yet I have found after dealing with TMS for 10 years that essentially fear or anxiety and pain are two sides of the same coin, they are the same thing. pain is just the physical expression of anxiety for people with habitual TMS. so dealing with the pain as a physical pathology is going down the wrong road. you have to deal with your mindstate
This is an excellent post.
Dr. Sarno originally believed pain was a "physical expression" of repressed emotion, but later refined his theory to suggest that the pain is a distraction preventing us from experiencing those emotions. Nevertheless, that is not an important distinction, and who knows if he is even correct. The key, as you put it so well, is to not pay any mind whatsoever to the anxiety or pain or symptom-of-the-day. The symptom should be a signal to "deal with your mindstate." |
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Anxiety and symptom increase
