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shawnsmith
Czech Republic
2048 Posts |
 Posted - 12/18/2006 : 12:52:19
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On page 84 of his book "Healing Back Pain", Dr. Sarno mentions an interesting case of an individual who is worth mentioning here. Dr. Sarno mentions that this patient was a 45 year old construction foreman who was a previous patient of Dr. Sarno and had been pain free for about 3 years. Then, out of seemingly nowhere, he developed a very painful back spasm which frightened him.
He returned to see Dr. Sarno and when asked what was taking place in his life he insisted everything was going well. And this is where Dr. Sarno makes a very interesting and insightful statement that we can all relate to:
"But the occurence of an acute spasm means that there has to be something psychological going on because TMS is an emotional baramoter."
The very experienced Dr. Sarno could not be fooled because, despite what the man told him about eveything being great in his life, Dr. Sarno knew, via the pain symptoms, that something was going on inside this man that he was repressing. The man finally relented (he had no choice) and admitted he was having some problems at work.
Sometimes you may feel that, apart from your pain, that your life is going fine and that there are really no major stressors you can think of and this brings on doubts in your mind regarding the TMS diagnosis. The above example, however, suggests that one should pay close attention to the pain as it is indeed an indictor - or in the words of Dr. Sarno an emotional barometer- that something is taking place on the inside. Alhtough the sufferer may inist, apart from their pain symptoms, that everything is ok, in fact the pain is sending out a message that some psychologial activity is taking place below the surface which your conscious mind does not want to deal with. The pain is in no way an indication of a physical problem but a strategy of the brain to repress or draw attention away from painful or embarassing emotions within the unconscious.
I suspect that many of us are looking for something huge when we do our mental work because the pain can be so intense. I feel at times, however, that the unconscious mind is over-reacting to things which our conscious mind feels is of little or no signifigance, much like a spoiled brat.
So, when you find yourself thinking about pain a lot, just remember these words: "The pain is an emotional barometer of what is taking place on the inside and is not an indication of any physical problem, no matter where the pain is." |
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Dave
USA
1864 Posts |
Posted - 12/18/2006 : 13:00:16
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quote:
Originally posted by shawnsmith
I suspect that many of us are looking for something huge when we do our mental work because the pain can be so intense. I feel at times, however, that the unconscious mind is over-reacting to things which our conscious mind feels is of little or no signifigance, much like a spoiled brat.
I agree. There may be things that bother you but that your conscious mind is embarassed to admit because it is petty, foolish, or casts you in a bad light. There may be things that you allow to pass without a second thought, but deep down they trigger an (unfelt) emotional response.
Note that "TMS as a barometer" does not mean that every time you feel acute symptoms, that there is a specific psychological trigger that occurred at the same time. It simply means the reservoir of rage is threatening to overflow. There may be 'junk' in there that is successfully repressed, but then a seemingly unrelated trigger comes along and stirs the pot and that's when the unconscious mind takes action to protect you from it. |
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miehnesor
USA
430 Posts |
Posted - 12/18/2006 : 16:21:31
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quote:
Originally posted by shawnsmith
I feel at times, however, that the unconscious mind is over-reacting to things which our conscious mind feels is of little or no signifigance, much like a spoiled brat.
To our adult conscious mind the issue seems rediculous but to our childlike unconscious mind it is a totally different reality altogether. I was terrified that my unconscious rage would lead to abandonment and death. Now that certainly is not of small significance or the reaction of a spoiled brat for that matter. TMS has protected me for sure and was absolutely necessary to prevent the expression of the rage. |
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shawnsmith
Czech Republic
2048 Posts |
Posted - 12/18/2006 : 16:37:44
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quote:
Originally posted by miehnesor
[quote]Originally posted by shawnsmith
I was terrified that my unconscious rage would lead to abandonment and death.
I would be interested to know how you extracted that from your unconscious since, according to Sarno, for the vast majority of TMS cases one never actually knows what the specific emotions are at play within the individual that have intiated the TMS symptoms. There was only one case Dr. Sarno mentions where a patient experienced an emotional explosion, and that was the case of the sexually abused Helen which Dr. Sarno mentions in his book. |
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armchairlinguist
USA
1397 Posts |
Posted - 12/18/2006 : 17:18:06
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I don't think it's true that in the majority of cases one never learns what is going on. It seems to be true that very few of us have the true breakthrough and re-experience that Sarno describes for Helen. But I think a lot of people who do a fairly psychological approach (ie not just read the book and get better, but a lot of journaling and reflection) do learn significant things about their emotions. I certainly have. The unconsious strives to become conscious, or there would be no need for TMS. Whenever it succeeds to some extent, we may learn what it is we've been repressing. I've learned a great deal about how I 'really' felt in some past situations that I had repressed, like the loss of my grandmother, and some small incidents that exemplify the general situation in my family when I was a kid.
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Wherever you go, there you are. |
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miehnesor
USA
430 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2006 : 12:09:27
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quote:
Originally posted by shawnsmith
quote:
Originally posted by miehnesor
[quote]Originally posted by shawnsmith
I was terrified that my unconscious rage would lead to abandonment and death.
I would be interested to know how you extracted that from your unconscious since, according to Sarno, for the vast majority of TMS cases one never actually knows what the specific emotions are at play within the individual that have intiated the TMS symptoms. There was only one case Dr. Sarno mentions where a patient experienced an emotional explosion, and that was the case of the sexually abused Helen which Dr. Sarno mentions in his book.
Shawn- I've been doing feeling work in psychotherapy now for years and have learned a lot about my unconscious by having the feelings of unconscious fear, rage, and sadness in that order. The feeling of the feelings has given me some profound insight into what I was afraid of. I know it was abandonment because I have felt the unconscious fear now in many different situations and it all points to fear of abandonment. For an infant/small child abandonment is equivalent to death.
Now in reality I was not in danger of abandonment; but, to my child self that was how I percieved it and the perception is really all that matters here wrt TMS.
My situation is much different from many because I had severe infant trauma due to a adverse vaccine reaction which shut me down emotionally at 4 months old and caused some form of brain damage. Additionally I had parents who had no idea what was going on and how to deal with it. The situation also triggered their wounds and they were therefore not able to be there for me the way I needed them to. I don't blame them but I have to honor the feelings that I really had to deal with TMS.
I admit to being triggered when I hear people speaking about their inner children in derogatory terms. I've found that it is a great way to keep your true feelings hidden from yourself. I've talked a lot about this topic on this forum because I think it is critically important to feeling repressed feelings. In summary a lot of love, patience, care, and compassion toward your inner child over time is key.
Additionally for me I found that I could not do this work alone. I needed a witness because I needed to have the risk of abandonment present to feel the fear (of the erupting rage). Without the witness there was no risk of abandonment and therefore I could not feel the unconscious fear. This last piece took me a while to realize.
I agree with Dr Sarno on all accounts except for one: feeling repressed feelings. Granted it is difficult to get there but with enough persistance and desire it is doable. I'm living proof of it.
Armchair- I wanted to thank you for your contribution here. I get a lot out of them. |
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Alpha
Germany
43 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2006 : 15:55:00
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@miehnesor: Hi i am very intrested in what you wrote, because i am starting on working on my emotions right now and due to my much different symptoms i also consider Psychotheraphy.
Is the Inner Child work a part of Psychotherapy or how have you become aware of it?
What do you think is importent to do, for feeling my repressed feelings?
What kind of Theraphist should i look for? I am from germany, here there are much different schools of Psychotheraphy and i am not quit sure which would help me best for releasing repressed feelings and the stuff Sarno suggests. I think we talk about classic Psychoanalysis Theraphy?!
Are you 100% healed today? |
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Littlebird
USA
391 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2006 : 16:55:56
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I agree with Armchairlinguist and Miehnesor that it's entirely possible to bring some emotions from the unconscious part of the mind to the conscious level. Part of the reason I've come to that conclusion is personal experience and part of the reason is that the information I've read on recent brain research indicates that there is a back and forth movement of information between the conscious and unconscious minds.
I used to not have much interest in just how the brain and mind work, but in recent years it's become a bit of a fascination for me as I've begun to realize how much influence my unconscious has had on my decisions and actions in life. Initially I developed interest after reading the books The Gift of Fear and Protecting the Gift, by Gavin DeBecker. He highlights how the unconscious is always processing information and how that creates the "gut feelings" that often serve as warnings in a situation that could be harmful to us. Over the years I've learned to trust those gut feelings, even though I had no idea where they came from. I just knew that when I ignored them I usually regretted it.
I also became more interested when I realized that my youngest son had ADD. (Though other family members have ADD or ADHD, I only home-schooled my youngest, so that led me to look for information on how it works.) While learning about that I found out about the newer brain scan techniques that show the brain in action, and I think those tools have allowed scientists to gain a much better understanding of the connection between the various parts of the brain and therefore a better understanding of the connections between the two parts of the mind.
I had no idea when these interests began to develop that eventually this information would contribute to my recovery from symptoms commonly labeled chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, along with quite a few other types of symptoms. Being able to visualize the connection between the two different parts of my mind has been helpful to me, though I realize it's not necessary for everyone who deals with TMS. Believing that my conscious can both access and influence my unconscious to some degree has been important for me.
Shawn, I really appreciate you comment that the unconscious mind overreacts to things that our conscious mind dismisses as being of little or no consequence. That is very true for me.
I also appreciate what Dave said about how a seemingly unrelated trigger "stirs the pot"and causes the unconscious mind to react. This is a really helpful illustration for me. While I've been aware of relatively minor events triggering major emotional reactions, being able to visualize it that way makes me feel like I'm not just a hysterical drama queen who can't handle life's little bumps. Most of the time I've suppressed those reactions, because I really don't like drama queens, which is probably one reason why journaling has been so beneficial for me--I can release the reactions there. |
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shawnsmith
Czech Republic
2048 Posts |
Posted - 12/19/2006 : 20:26:03
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I would like to emphasize that it is not 100% necessary to bring unconscious emotions to surface in order to bring about a cessation of TMS symptoms. The main goal is to think pyschologically and to at least imagine what you think might be taking place on the inside. The point is to draw attention away from the physical symptoms and unto the pyschological and thus effectively sending a message to the symptoms that you are not going to pay any attention to them.
I know that is easier said than done.
Don't get too hung up on insisting that you must find the exact emotion that is causing the problem. In fact, insisting on doing so may be that old perfectionist boogey man sneaking up on you. |
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Wavy Soul
USA
779 Posts |
Posted - 12/20/2006 : 02:42:15
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quote:
I admit to being triggered when I hear people speaking about their inner children in derogatory terms. I've found that it is a great way to keep your true feelings hidden from yourself. I've talked a lot about this topic on this forum because I think it is critically important to feeling repressed feelings. In summary a lot of love, patience, care, and compassion toward your inner child over time is key.
I may have talked about my inner child in derogatory terms and I'd like to explain (if it was a post by me that triggered you).
I've come to realize that there is my real inner child, who has incredibly deep (though not necessarily rational) feelings that need to be totally validated. Then there is a false inner child who - because she hasn't been listened to - has resorted to various strategies to get heard, and fights with another part - let's call it the false inner parent - which is the part of the brain that tries to manage and control these strong instinctual feelings by symptoms (and also addictions, obsessive thinking, etc.).
This may seem complicated, but I've developed this understanding over decades of working with myself and others on all this kind of stuff. The problem comes when the real inner child is taken over by the false inner child and her false parent. Then the "feelings" become thoughts, and belief systems of a most toxic kind. It's kinda like if the feelings can't be felt or acknowledged they shoot up the spine the the mind and poison your thinking. Then that part of you acts really sensitive and seems to need constant care - when really, as the instinctual, wild part, the child can actually be given a lot of freedom, as long as her feelings are allowed and validated.
The "real" inner parent that our real child wants is not some control freak trying to manage her emotions, but something akin to our "Higher Self" or higher power or soul or expanded intelligence (insert favorite words). She wants to be acknowledged in her feelings, but NOT in her thoughts, because her thoughts are scary.
Hope this made some sense at 1:40 in the morning.
xx
Love is the answer, whatever the question |
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armchairlinguist
USA
1397 Posts |
Posted - 12/20/2006 : 10:59:36
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Of course, Shawn -- definitely not necessary to find the specific emotions all the time. I got totally better from pain before I had any substantial psychological insight. But things do vary for people and some find it helpful to try to be open to psychological insights that may come up.
Wavy, what a brilliant post. This will go in my storage file. I wonder if the true and false inner children are in a way one and the same -- if the true one is not validated, she will act out and seem to need constant care. But doing the constant care will not solve the real problem. It seems similar to what you suggested, though a slightly different way of looking at it.
miehsnor, thanks! I really appreciate your posts as well. Your approach to the inner child is very much what I've found as well. Recently I have experienced spontanous sharings of love and joy and sadness and comfort with my inner child and she is more and more present with me all the time now.
--
Wherever you go, there you are. |
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Jodi
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - 12/20/2006 : 12:20:45
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| I don't know about any of you, but I've certainly noticed that my pain has increased significantly since the holiday season began. I have been able to talk myself out of at least 2 acute attacks. You'd think that would be enough to convince me that it's TMS. I still would love to have a physician look me in the eye and tell me, "Yes, you have TMS." Unfortunately, there is no one I know of in the Salt Lake City area who is qualified to diagnose and treat this. Any suggestions? |
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shawnsmith
Czech Republic
2048 Posts |
Posted - 12/20/2006 : 12:37:07
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Jodi,
I am going to tell you something about how the brain works for those with TMS. If 500 doctors, all trained under the great TMS guru himself (Dr. Sarno) were to tell you that you had TMS your clever and deceptive brain would still find a way to make you doubt. These doubts are a form of resistance to keep you focused on your body and away from what really bothering you on the inside.
I never had a doctor tell me I had TMS, and I don't need to because it is more obvious than the sun in the sky. The same is true for many other people on this message board.
The fact that your pain has "increased significantly since the holiday season began" is a very good indictation that TMS is hard at work within you, especially since you did not do anything else, I assume, to hurt yourself. At least you can see the link between this stress producing time of the year on the onset of increased pain. That is a good start. Now think of all the stressful things surrounding this season.
In fact, there is someone in the Salt Lake City area who can tell you that you have TMS and her name is Jodi.
Shawn |
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shawnsmith
Czech Republic
2048 Posts |
Posted - 12/20/2006 : 12:40:28
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| In my opinion there is nothing wrong with doing inner child work with a view to alleviating the symptoms of TMS. The main goal, as I have stated time and again, is to think pyschologically and each of us on this board will utilize a different model in doing so. So if inner child work works for you then I say bravo!!!! |
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Jodi
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - 12/20/2006 : 13:17:42
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Shawn,
Thank you so much for your response. Sometimes it helps to just talk to someone. I read Dr. Sarno's books beginning last March. At that time I couldn't even sit to do my job for more than a few minutes at a time. After reading Healing Back Pain we drove 6 hours straight. The entire time I kept repeating to myself "sitting is not bad for the back, increase the blood flow to the muscles, nerves and tendons in my back and leg." Well, it worked. I still get so scared when I feel that awful pain begin and I haven't had a full blown attack since I read the book, but I have days when I'm still in a lot of pain. Today is one of them. I had back surgery for a herniated disc back in July of 04, it didn't work and a year later they told me the pain was due to scar tissue. That's when I started looking for answers elsewhere. I'm still afraid to bend at the waist, but I do it (cautiously). I just wish I could get over the fear. Do I just continue to do the mental work. I've been writing in the morning and evenings about what's been bothering me during the day, but I'm afraid that may not be enough. Can you, or anyone recommend strategies that have worked for you? |
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miehnesor
USA
430 Posts |
Posted - 12/20/2006 : 22:37:20
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quote:
Originally posted by Alpha
@miehnesor: Hi i am very intrested in what you wrote, because i am starting on working on my emotions right now and due to my much different symptoms i also consider Psychotheraphy.
Is the Inner Child work a part of Psychotherapy or how have you become aware of it?
What do you think is importent to do, for feeling my repressed feelings?
What kind of Theraphist should i look for? I am from germany, here there are much different schools of Psychotheraphy and i am not quit sure which would help me best for releasing repressed feelings and the stuff Sarno suggests. I think we talk about classic Psychoanalysis Theraphy?!
Are you 100% healed today?
Alpha- I chose to explore inner child work because I knew that my TMS case was severe and all other approaches failed to make the slightest dent in my symptoms. I also knew my history and frankly did not think that recovery was possible in my case. I am not 100% cured but am significantly improved and a whole lot more functional than I was before doing the rage release work. I am still doing the work and the fear and rage and sadness are still quite strong and real for me. I'm hoping that my unconscious settles down and I can move on and put this behind me. I believe that for me the only way out is through and I intend to stick with the process for some time more.
I don't know how long you have been working on TMS but would say that I would start with journaling and see what comes up with that process before you jump into therapy. Many people can resolve symptoms with journaling alone.
If this does not relieve symptoms then I would look to therapy for help. Finding a decent therapist is challenging. I would read Alice Miller's very short but powerful book "The Drama of the Gifted Child" as that will help you understand the pitfalls of choosing the right therapist. It also can trigger a lot of repressed feelings that can give you valuable clues to guide you on your personal journey.
Inner child work has been enormously helpful to me. If you are interested in it there are many books that you can learn more about it. John Bradshaw is excellent on this stuff you can check out his work.
Lastly I would recommend that you look closely at your source figures in your life for where you may be holding onto repressed rage. I believe that for many folks the problem lies close to home. My big breakthrough came when I took action and attempted to display anger towards my mom in therapy. That's when the repressed fear seemed to pop out of no where. I just followed the feelings and this led to more and more feelings and understanding of the emotional reality of my inner child. |
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Pain as an emotional barometer
