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Allan
USA
226 Posts |
 Posted - 05/16/2006 : 14:58:54
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I was impressed by Dr. Sarno’s new book, “The Divided Mind.”
There have been several articles about Freud in the press on his anniversary. There is a consistency among the authors that although he was the pioneer on the workings of the mind and made some errors, he was certainly correct about his concept of a person being in denial and the resultant problems that is causes.
Dr. Sarno refers to denial in his chapter on the psychotherapy process, which was outstanding. It was fascinating to watch the interview process and be aware of the key words such as “I am sort of (angry at my husband)” or “I guess I am angry (at my husband). In other words the person is in denial. The person really is angry, very angry. The anger is suppressed as evidenced by the denial and here comes the pain. One cannot correct what is not acknowledged (Dr. Phil).
Dr. Sarno does a great job in isolating the differences between present day psychiatry and Freud’s original thinking and how the present thinking reinforces Dr. Sarno’s diagnosis of TMS.
The individual chapters by separate TMS doctors were interesting. A disappointing repetitive comment made was the failure rate of spreading the word that Dr. Sarno’s diagnosis is effective. It is evidently difficult to combat the “It’s not in my head” response.
Dr. Sarno strongly recommends continual reinforcement by reading his books.
All in all, a great book. A good detailed explanation of how the pain arrives and how to make it leave.
Allan.
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Michele
249 Posts |
Posted - 05/17/2006 : 07:46:48
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I second your opinion Allan - GREAT book! I have read his HBP and MBP and they are equally as informative, but for some reason his latest book just "got" me. I bought an extra copy for my doctor (whom I have not seen for over a year, and for whom I only see for a PAP test!)  |
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ralphyde
USA
307 Posts |
Posted - 05/18/2006 : 13:23:41
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I am also very impressed with The Divided Mind. I particularly like the chapters from other doctors, which give a slightly different but reinforcing perspective. In particular, I liked the chapter by Dr. Rochelle, an orthopedic surgeon who learned a lot from Dr. Sarno.
My wife still rejects TMS after 5 years of lower back pain. She has recently been looking for surgery, and our insurance company has recently denied her a disk replacement surgery, and then spinal fusion, as not medically justified. This even though she was told by a disk surgeon three years ago that the pain couldn't be a disk problem because of the tenderness around her spine. Dr. Rochelle reinforces this. He also comments on the fact that many will reject the TMS diagnosis, and how frustrating and sad this is.
For those who accept the diagnosis, most will achieve significant healing in a few weeks. But for those who don't, the pain will continue indefinitely.
Dr. Sarno also points out in this book that resistance to the diagnosis is part of the syndrome. On page 131, he writes; quote:
Another crucial therapeutic element became clear early on as well: the person must not only understand the nature of the process but be able to fully accept it as well. Not faith, but acceptance of the idea is essential. Blind faith leads to a placebo cure, if any. By contrast, acceptance and acknowledgement produce permanent results. Failure of acceptance is an impediment to "cure" for some patients because inability to accept the concepts of TMS is one of the psyche's strategies for maintaining the process. As put succinctly by a young woman patient years ago, "Denial of the syndrome is part of the syndrome." In addition to creating pain, the psyche creates doubt - the better to keep the syndrome going.
I never imagined that my wife's resistance to the idea of TMS could be so strong. She broke off our reconciliation for gently suggesting that she see a TMS qualified doctor. All rationality seems to have been eclipsed by this syndrome in her case.
Ralph |
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armchairlinguist
USA
1397 Posts |
Posted - 05/19/2006 : 17:50:41
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I found both the chapter on the psychotherapy process and the chapter by Andrea Leonard-Segal (sp?) to be extremely helpful. The psychotherapy for the same reason you identified, its info about what a therapist looks for and challenges. I do many of the things they describe and it reinforced my confidence in the diagnosis for me and may give me some ability to challenge my own behaviors. I have certainly been surprised by some of the things I write in my journal. Recently an old boyfriend visited at an awkward time for me. I wrote: "I did not want to see him at all." This is true, but I had thought that I just did not want to spend so much time. When I find myself making modified statements in my journal, I see if I can cross out the modifiers and still feel like what I am saying is true. I also caught myself unable to make eye contact (something I have improved at but which is always problematic) with a friend I have ambivalent feelings about. Without the book I might not have noticed.
The other chapter I liked for what she said about it being incredibly hard to do your best all the time. It made so much sense to me, about why I feel exhausted and burned out even now that the pain is mostly gone, it made me realize more clearly that that alone is a huge pressure creating anger. |
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goldie
USA
20 Posts |
Posted - 05/21/2006 : 01:23:57
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If you guys are interested - this new book is also available as an audiobook (audio file download from iTunes for $17.99.
I have previously read both 'mind-body connection' and 'healing back pain' by Sarno and am looking forward to hearing how his theories have further progressed / evolved (also happy that this book takes a much more broad & hollistic approach to the topic of mind-body i.e. not just soft tissue pain that the other books focus on).
Btw - FYI here is my short history if you are interested...
I suffered from chronic 'computer related' pain in both forearms for almost a year which caused me to quit my job and go on long term disability. I was devastated and thought i would have to live with this "RSI" 'disability' for the rest of the life and NEVER work with computers again (i worked in IT).
After being bounced around aimlessly between numerous physios and chiros (and everything in between) for a year - all of which had different opinions, diagnosises and treatments to no avail all it took for me to get better in the end was finding out about (via this forum and several other websites) and reading the 'mind body connection' repeatedly for several weeks and contemplating what it said and how that related to my own experiences / personality.
It took about 2 months of thinking about it and reading it to get 99% better and i have been so ever since (6 months). I get maybe one day a month where i get mild pain but always just now think 'i know what that is - i'm just under a lot of stress today etc' and it goes away within 12-24 hrs)
The 'mind-body connection' was the most important book i ever read and it is not an understatement to say that the knowledge i gained from it gave me an insight into myself and saved me from who knows how many years of pain and depression.
Just like so many others on this forum i owe Dr Sarno a great deal.
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Allan
USA
226 Posts |
Posted - 05/21/2006 : 12:24:26
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Goldie.
What a great post!
The whole key is understanding.
A quick story regarding acceptance of the diagnosis. Dr. Sarno had a patient (in his new book) who said, “I don’t think that I have such a leap of faith to accept the diagnosis.” He replied, “It doesn’t require a leap of faith, it requires a leap of understanding.”
Recoveries tend to be slow when the understanding is not initially complete. I am happy for you and happy that you posted. We all need encouragement.
Allan.
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The Divided Mind by Dr. Sarno
