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Allan
USA
226 Posts |
 Posted - 11/22/2005 : 10:27:57
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Dr. Sarno has issued instructions to his new patients containing a daily study program. I hope it answers some of your questions.
INSTRUCTIONS FROM DR. SARNO
DAILY STUDY PROGRAM FOR TMS PATIENTS
You have had a consultation with me. You will hear two basic lectures, and then you will probably say to yourself, “now what do I do?”
The principle behind getting better is to understand what TMS is all about and to acknowledge that TMS, and nothing else, is the cause of your pain or numbness, tingling or weakness, regardless of where you are feeling these things. You came with other diagnoses, but if you have been accepted into the program it means that these diagnoses were not correct. You may have had x-ray or MRI abnormalities but they were not the cause of your symptoms. In order to get better, it is essential that you put your past medical experiences behind you and concentrate on this program. You will speed up the process if you forget everything that you were told in the past, including the diagnosis, what you were supposed to do and not to do.
Concentrate on understanding TMS. You have a normal back or leg or arm! Your symptoms are all due to mild oxygen deprivation which is harmless but can cause severe symptoms. When and where you have pain is not important. You are going to change your brain’s program by thinking about certain things every day until the pain stops.
The educational program, that is to say the lectures and my follow up meetings, will get the job done in 85% to 90% of the people with TMS, 10% to 15% will need psychotherapy to complete the process. This is no disgrace since we could all profit from learning what is going on in our subconscious minds, which is what good therapy is all about.
Here is the program that I want you to follow:
1. Read about 30 pages of either Healing Back Pain or The Mindbody Prescription every day. Pay close attention to what you read, especially when you see things that remind you of yourself. When you finish the book, start all over the next day.
2. Set aside time every day, possibly 15 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening, to review the material I am about to suggest.
3. Unconscious RAGE is what necessitates the pain. It is inside you, you don’t feel it. There are a number of possible sources of the rage.
a. Anger generated in infancy or childhood will stay with you all your life and will contribute to the rage. Try to think of anything in those early years that might have made you angry. Put them on a list.
b. In most people with TMS, certain personality traits make the greatest contribution to the rage. Put them at the head of your list. If you expect a great deal of yourself, if you drive yourself to be perfect, to achieve, to succeed, if you are your own severest critic, if you are very conscientious, this will make you very angry inside. Similarly, if you have a strong desire to please people, to want them to like you, or if you need to be very helpful to everyone and anyone, if you are the caretaker type and are always worrying about your family, friends and relatives, these will also make you furious inside because that is the way that the mind works. The unconscious doesn’t care about anyone but itself. Remember, accumulated anger becomes RAGE.
c. Just as the inner mind reacts against being perfect or good, it also resents any kind of life pressure. So you should put on your list anything in your life that represents pressure or responsibility, like your job, your spouse if you are married, your children if you are a parent, your parents if they are living.
d. A subtle but important source of anger in some people is the fact that they are getting old and also that they are mortal. This is commoner than you would think. Close personal relationships, no matter how good they are, are often the source of unconscious rage.
e. Add to your list those situations in which you become consciously angry (or annoyed) but cannot express it, whatever the reason may be. The suppressed anger is internalized and becomes part of the reservoir of rage that brings on TMS. The angers we talked about above are repressed – you don’t feel them, you don’t know that they are there. This program is designed to stop the brain from producing pain because it fears that the rage will come out if it doesn’t do something to distract you. You must sit down and think about these things every day. This is the way that the ideas get from your conscious mind to your unconscious mind. That is where it has to get for the brain to stop the pain process.
4. When the pain is gone or almost gone, start to do physical things you have been afraid to do. This is very difficult for some TMS people and it may take many weeks or months before you are able to get back to full physical activity. But that must be your goal in order to convince your mind that you know that you have a normal back (or neck, or shoulder or knee). Don’t give up. You have to put in time and effort to make it work. Try hard not to pay attention to your pain. When you find yourself thinking about it, force yourself to think about the psychological things on your list. After the lectures, you should spend three to four weeks working on this program. If you are not satisfied with your progress by the end of that time, call me and I will probably invite you to our follow-up meetings. If you’re still not better after a few of those, psychotherapy is usually prescribed.
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Juno
Canada
11 Posts |
Posted - 11/22/2005 : 12:37:00
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Thanks for posting this! |
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almost there
109 Posts |
Posted - 11/22/2005 : 12:58:09
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Allan-
Thank you...this is perfect! |
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Kate
USA
10 Posts |
Posted - 11/26/2005 : 14:42:34
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Oh my GOSH,
BLESS you for posting this!!!!
This will help me so much!
Kate |
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Baseball65
USA
734 Posts |
Posted - 11/26/2005 : 19:36:04
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Hi Allan.
That is Funny.....I don't think I'm particularly different than any other TMS sufferer,but before I ever read this I was already doing it!!...Oh yeah..I was also,at least from what I gather from reading posts ,one of the quicker recoveries.
I had sort of used the book (HBP...clearest and most concise in my opinion) and used it as a questionnaire.I borrowed a writing excercise from another program I'd been through that was a bit more thorough,but basically identical.I wrote every day,used the book as a sort of 'security blanket' reading it every time I had some spare time or got scared.and...like he says to in the book,set aside a quiet time for reflection.
Hell...when I help people in person I always recommend they make 2 lists..one of people they KNOW they're mad at,and one of people in they're life with whom they are NOT angry .The second list is usually holding the key to their recovery...
Excellent stuff
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The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up. |
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miehnesor
USA
430 Posts |
Posted - 11/28/2005 : 10:56:16
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quote:
Originally posted by Baseball65
Hell...when I help people in person I always recommend they make 2 lists..one of people they KNOW they're mad at,and one of people in they're life with whom they are NOT angry .The second list is usually holding the key to their recovery...
Baseball- This underscores the essense of TMS and why it can be so difficult to crack. It the stuff you are totally unaware of that is the read killer. The solution in not what you think it is.
When I started this work I immediately jumped on the bandwagon that the problem was with my dad. After working through those issues and feeling about them I noticed no change in TMS symptoms. It was only after I started to realize and feel the anger wrt mom that I got to the meat of the emotions driving TMS. |
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Allan
USA
226 Posts |
Posted - 11/28/2005 : 17:26:57
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Baseball
You are, beyond a doubt, one of the quicker recoveries.
I like your last comment about the second list. Yes, it is almost always someone close to you.
Allan. |
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Help for those new to TMS diagnosis
