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lastlostmonkey
35 Posts |
 Posted - 11/24/2005 : 10:51:30
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Hello,
I am new here, have read 'Healing Back Pain' and am halfway through 'MindBody Prescription'. It makes a lot of sense to me and I think that although I am nearly better with physical therapy (although I realise Sarno says this will not last) I feel that TMS is the 'key' somehow. I am keen to start journaling but since I have been thinking about anger and anxiety in my life it seem that much of it will come from personal relationships. I am concerned because I think some will inevitably come from my relationship with my husband, which is very good and loving but as Sarno says, the unconscious is not rational. We live in a very small apartment and I am concerned about writing things down for fear that he might inadvertantly read them (I know he wouldn't deliberately do so) and misunderstand. Has anyone else been in this situation and what did you do? Is it good enough to work these things through mentally without writing them down, as long as I write down the rest, or is there some therapeutic benefit in 'getting it all out'? Am I making a mountain out of a molehill?
Thanks. |
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n/a
560 Posts |
Posted - 11/24/2005 : 12:39:41
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Each will develop their own personal strategies, but I personally find writing things down much better than just thinking about them only. The mind tends to play tricks on you and writing your thoughts down on paper seems to be a bit more effective in countering these tricks. I know, however, that many people do not journal at all and are sucessfully recovered or nearly so.
If you have TMS you must 100% affirm that your pain is not of a physical / structural origin, but due to repressed emotions - mostly rage and anxiety, and that the purpose of the pain is to distract your attention away from your repressed emotions. As long as you continue with physical therapy you are sending a message to your brain that you believe the source of your pain is physical. At best, the physical therapy will act as a placebo for awhile but the pain will either eventually return to its original spot or show up in some other part of your body.
In addition, anything you do to avoid pain- such as sitting a certain way or avoiding certain activies - also reinforces the message to your brain that your pain is of a physical origin and thus it is important, in order to thwart the efforts of your brain, to resume all normal physical activity and keep telling yourself fanatically over and over again that the pain is due to TMS and not to a structural abnormality.
Dr. Sarno makes the point that we have to think our way out of TMS. |
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atg
USA
50 Posts |
Posted - 11/24/2005 : 14:42:27
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| One thing you might want to think about is writing down your thoughts on paper and afterward throw the paper away (possibly in an outside trash can?) This way you have the benefit of journaling completely uncensored along with your privacy. |
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Jim1999
USA
210 Posts |
Posted - 11/24/2005 : 22:33:50
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Welcome to the group!
I can't know whether journaling would be more helpful than thinking for you. I know that journaling was more helpful for me, and I doubt that I would have made a full recovery without it. There is something theraputic about reading and thinking about what I had just written.
Throwing the papers away sounds like a good idea, or shredding them if that's convenient. Another idea would be to type your thoughts into a computer, but never save anything.
Hope this helps,
Jim |
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lastlostmonkey
35 Posts |
Posted - 11/25/2005 : 03:14:26
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Great, thanks for the suggestions. It seems important so I will try writing these things down and then throwing them out. I also thought yesterday after posting that the level of paranoia I have about people discovering personal things I had written maybe indicated another thing to add to the list!
It's good to have the ideas distilled, thank you Peter. I am still working on the psychological emphasis, I think it will take a while to sink in. But I am no longer in physical therapy and am trying to weed out the things that I do as a result of the physical diagnosis and working out which I do as 'crutches'. I think the problem for me (apart from the journaling issue) is that some things, like improved posture and doing general exercise more, are a result of the physical pain treatment I received, but now I actually prefer to be doing those things anyway. So it's distinguishing which are still illness related in my mind, 'if I don't do this the pain will get bad again', and which are now things that I do because I want to do them for general health or wellbeing (e.g. improved posture means I breathe better etc.). Sorry, I realise I have gone off topic now...
Thanks again. |
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n/a
374 Posts |
Posted - 11/25/2005 : 09:54:07
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Hi Lastlostmonkey (love the name),
Glad to hear that you feel that TMS is the key - you are receptive to the idea, maybe even suspected that emotions were playing a part in your pain condition before you even read the book. Getting it all out is a good idea.
I sympathise with your dilemma. You are certainly not making a mountain out of a molehill. Of course you don't want to hurt your husband by letting him find a journal in which you may have written down things about your relationship. I found myself in exactly the same situation when I journalled. The thing is, to be really useful you have to be able to write down absolutely anything as it comes into your head - no matter how negative.
I locked my journal in a briefcase that I kept in my car. Sounds pretty sneaky, but no-one could get at it without the only key. I'm glad I kept it. though - when I was in pain, physical, mental, or often both - I'd just let it all come out on paper - anything and everything that came into my head. Reading it some months on, was very therapeutic - I could hardly believe some of the things I'd felt and written about. It gave me an excellent insight into how far I'd progressed.
Everyone is different, of course, but writing, then destroying would not have been so beneficial for me, I don't think.
Best wishes
Anne |
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Scottydog
United Kingdom
330 Posts |
Posted - 11/26/2005 : 03:32:42
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Hi,
My paranoia about my husband finding my journalling was misplaced. I have written so much now that it would take ages to read and what seems a profound realisation to me is probably pretty uninteresting to anyone else. He really wasn't interested in what I was up to but the big thing is that our relationship is much better now - I can understand the reasons for some of my less appealing behavious but also better understand his! so we are happier all round.
I was also paranoid about anyone seeing my self help books (proof that I was a failure at life!) but am now quite ok with it and it's a family joke that I come up with an underlying reason for any health problem or worry.
anne
Scottydog |
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Jim1999
USA
210 Posts |
Posted - 11/27/2005 : 20:25:38
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quote:
Originally posted by AnneG
I locked my journal in a briefcase that I kept in my car. Sounds pretty sneaky, but no-one could get at it without the only key. I'm glad I kept it. though - when I was in pain, physical, mental, or often both - I'd just let it all come out on paper - anything and everything that came into my head. Reading it some months on, was very therapeutic - I could hardly believe some of the things I'd felt and written about. It gave me an excellent insight into how far I'd progressed.
That's a good point about the value of reading your journal at a later date. That was helpful to me. Maybe locking up the journal would be a better approach than throwing the journal entries out.
Jim |
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Journaling
