I have a lot of positive anxiety going on in my life right now. All based on a very exciting personal situation I've been involved in for a month. All of a sudden I'm getting acute attacks of the old familiar shoulder muscle spasms and they're getting more intense the more the days are passing, instead of subsiding. I'm popping tylenol and motrin like crazy to take the edge off. I'm doing self-talk and trying to deep breathe when I can. So when the anxiety is induced by positive events in my life, should't the same principles apply to when it's something upsetting that causes the TMS? Any suggestions?
Positive things in one's life and those things bringing on TMS symptoms is not a strange idea once one understands the mechanism and purpose behind TMS. If things are going well there is internal pressure to keep things going well and a worry that things will not go well in the future.
Hmm, anxiety could be masking some unconscious fear/doubt/shame that the inner child is feeling about something that your rational, grown-up mind is able to view as very positive. Even positive life events are big changes that the inner child can resent and fear.
I've just been rereading Mindbody Perscription. Check out pp.20-33 again for a list of life events ("good" and "bad") that can trigger TMS symptoms. This section also talks about the deeper emotions of the inner child. Journaling about these might be a next step.
Events that we view as positive may also trigger TMS symptoms. Review the Rahe-Holmes list in MBP, as Carbar pointed out. taking out a mortgage can create life pressure as well as paying-off a mortgage.
It's the other side of the TMS coin. Any life event that upsets your emotional homeostasis can potentially trigger a psychosomatic reaction.
What about when the TMS is from GOOD anxiety?
Posted - 02/14/2007 : 11:53:32
