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UK james
United Kingdom
37 Posts |
 Posted - 03/05/2007 : 07:41:05
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Hi All,
I successfully cured my backpain a few years ago using Sarno's approach. I had a case of location substitution with my achilles which still flares up from time to time but is not too serious or as debilitating as my former back pain.
However, my problem is completely letting go...I constantly think about TMS rather than other things and find myself thinking negative thoughts about my childhood etc. I also obsess a lot about why I am a perfectionist - is it low self esteem and if so, why is it so?
The bottom line is that I just want to get on with my life, quit thinking / obsessing too much about matters but I find it really hard. I try and remind myself of just how bad the pain was and how restricted I was when my back was bad to realise how lucky I am now but I seem to be stuck in a negative way of thinking that is taking up too much of my time.
If anyone has similar issues or can lend any advice, I would be grateful.
PS. I have read a lot here about achilles problems and I am sure that they are TMS related. My back has not hurt since I discovered Sarno but my achilles have begun playing up a little - location substitution for sure.
James |
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marytabby
USA
545 Posts |
Posted - 03/05/2007 : 07:53:47
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| I struggle too with this. I would love to hear any suggestions. |
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tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 03/05/2007 : 08:08:05
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From page 101 of Dr. John Sarno's THE DIVIDED MIND:
...feelings of inferiority are universal, varying in degree and intensity, but not limited to "neurotics." The sense of inferiority appears to be the primary spur to the drives to be perfect and good that is exceedlingly common in patients suffering with TMS. It caused Adler to conceptualize the superiority complex, which is synonymous with what we have described as the drive to be perfect. It must be that we are constanly trying to prove to ouvselves and the world that we are worthwhile, not inferior...success is often built on insecurity, which is another expression of the same idea. Feelings of inferiority are of immense importance if one is to understand the psychosomatic phenomena they generate. The drive to superiority perfection) is a pressure...
From page 107 of Dr. John Sarno's THE DIVIDED MIND:
"Guilt is tied in with inferiority feelings and the need to be perfect-good...People blame themselves for lots of things because of their low self-esteem and their perfectionist tendencies. There appears to be a deeply ingrained habit of self-deprecation that is part of the very fabric of their personalities, influencing every moment of their lives. If they had a more robust sense of themselves, they would have a more balanced view of the things they feel guilty about. This, of course, points back to childhood when they didn't get the support they needed to give them this more robust sense of self." |
Edited by - tennis tom on 03/05/2007 08:13:47 |
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FlyByNight
Canada
209 Posts |
Posted - 03/05/2007 : 08:18:31
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go on Monte Hueftle blog .. He got some very powerful insights to go through that kind of obsessive thought processes ...
www.runningpain.com
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tennis tom
USA
4749 Posts |
Posted - 03/05/2007 : 09:11:13
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quote:
Originally posted by UK james
Hi All,
"...I successfully cured my backpain a few years ago using Sarno's approach. I had a case of location substitution with my achilles which still flares up from time to time but is not too serious or as debilitating as my former back pain."
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I have recently noticed a spate of posts from Sarno devotees who have had success overcoming back-pain. They are now returning with new locations such as the foot and achilles. I am wondering if having experienced some TMS success that they may now be feeling a false sense of invincibility. This could be the other side of the TMS coin--playing through or running through what is a "real" injury.
Dr. Sarno's TMS theory is the MINDBODY SYNDROME. It could also be called the BODYMIND SYNDROME perhaps. Thinking out loud here, why would it be any wiser, for TMS purposes, to think all pain is caused by our head and not possibly have a legitimate origin in tissues outside the brain due to a real injury?
Now that I am TMS aware, if I feel a twinge, I back-off and monitor it and it usually goes away. If it doesn't subside, I don't blast through it. Our bodies have propreoceptors in our joints and muscles that are like little brains that report back to the big brain. They sense when a joint is going beyond it's range of motion and could be damaged. By anlogy, these propreoceptors could be the sensory monitors that the gremlin does
battle with while the big brain is busy taking care of the big picture.
My warning message here to those who are athletic and pursue achievemtents beyond what is "normal" for the "average" human is not to acquire an unrealistic attitude of invincibility after gaining "a little bit" of TMS knowledge. You still have to maintain propreoceptive awareness and listen to your body not to get a "real" injury. tt
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"...The bottom line is that I just want to get on with my life, quit thinking / obsessing too much about matters but I find it really hard."
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I feel a period of introspection (or periods of introspection) during life-cycle transitions are normal and is the TMS work. In order to get through the period and become a more "genuine person" as Dr. Marc Sopher says you need to do the emotional (TMS) work. Or you could always latch onto a psychosomatic TMS symptom as a distraction and be on your merry way.
tt
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Edited by - tennis tom on 03/05/2007 10:48:09 |
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vnwees
64 Posts |
Posted - 03/05/2007 : 09:16:46
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Hi James;
I very much identify with your being stuck in negative thinking and I have had some clear success with treating that problem as I have with other (what I lovingly refer to as) Sarnositis issues (back pain, headaches, tennis elbow, foot pain, etc.). An example of the dialog I do with my brain is something like this when I feel the fear, anxiety, depression, circles of negative thinking, etc coming on:
Wait a minute here!!! I see what you're doing. You're trying to distract me from my repressed rage by causing me fear, loops of negative thoughts, anxiety, depression, etc. Well, I'm not going to allow that. I am in control, not you. You will do what I tell you to do. I will not be at the mercy of your bull____. Starting right now I want you to adjust all the chemicals/hormones, etc. thruout my entire brain and body to be perfectly balanced for feelings of well being, calmess, gratitude, sanity and overall positiveness and self acceptance. DO IT RIGHT NOW!!!
I continue with the instructions to increase the blood flow to any oxygen deprived areas that need it to keep pain away. After I've done this, I go to writing about things that may add to my reservior of rage and get some anger out...including the anger that my brain continues to mess with me this way (tho I've had much improvement over the past year+ doing this---also most other pains gone since 1998 doing Sarnosizing). I've also written some thoughts that perhaps my reservoir of rage is a healthy place to keep my rage. That it's normal for me to have it and it's a safe place to keep some of these unpleasant feelings. That it serves a positive purpose and is not the heavy negative thing I used to think it was.
As Sarno says, repetition is VERY important. You can do this driving, waiting on hold, in the terlet (toilet, if you're too young to remember Archie Bunker), etc. Recently I've begun regularly reading and rereading pages 267 and 268 in the Divided Mind...it really applies to folks like us and i think a daily reminder is so important.
If any of these tips are helpful I'd be happy to share additional thoughts. I have come to believe that this negative thinking is simply another form of TMS (observe it's ability to distract!)and can be dealt with successfully in the same way. Try to keep it simple and be kind to yourself. My hat's off to you for reaching out for help. If we were meant to do this alone, we each would have been given our own planet (heard that years ago and loved it). Best of luck! Don't give up! You're on the right track.
Vicki
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vnwees
64 Posts |
Posted - 03/05/2007 : 09:27:45
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P.S.
James,
Remember, this is a period of re-training and re-programming the brain.
I didn't see immediate results but the concept that this was Sarnositis made sense to me so I got into doing this stuff regularly. As the weeks passed, I noticed less negative loops, some positive thoughts coming in and felt that things were shifting inside of me. They continue to improve. Temporary setbacks will come, then will pass. Overall I'd say my improvement is between 50% on a bad day and 80-90% on a good day over the past year or so.
Hope this helps.
Vicki |
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UK james
United Kingdom
37 Posts |
Posted - 03/05/2007 : 10:17:42
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Thanks to you all for the advice.
I'll try to treat the negative / obsessive thoughts as I did my initial back pain. It makes sense to do this - it is a distraction. The perfectionist side of me wants to do really well at my job but I sometimes wonder how much the distraction actually detracts from my job. I am never at the top of the leader board in comparison to my colleagues yet wonder if I could be if I could give my job my full attention - hopefully your advice will help me on the way to achieving this. Also, at work, I tend to have negative thoughts such as 'what if i was fired' rather than positive ones relating to success, even though I have all the requirements to do well - annoying!
In terms of the foot / achilles pain - I feel very strongly that this is becoming more prevelant as a chronic injury and that it is another form of TMS. The more I rested my achilles and the more out of shape I became, the worse the pain (rage at not being as fit as I was).
I agree that real injuries exist, e.g tears, acute muscle pulls etc but nagging, tender, dull pain is TMS every time in my opinion. The moment you think it could be a 'real' injury, helped by the likes of orthotics, it will linger. You have to carry on training - I would hop up and down on the foot where the achilles hurt - initially making the pain worse - to prove to myself that I could beat the pain. This seemed to work for me.
I just wonder if achilles / foot pains are becoming more in vogue, facilitated by us talking about it!
Thanks again guys.
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vnwees
64 Posts |
Posted - 03/05/2007 : 11:43:18
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One day, years ago when my kids were little we were at Disneyland waiting in the endless line, very hot, smoggy day, getting jostled, kids fussy, etc and I was about ready to explode. Then this guy with no legs went by in a wheelchair. I will never forget the moment I realized how incredibly lucky I was to BE ABLE to stand in this long line at Disneyland. I try to be receptive to those thoughts and the gratitude I felt that day. They can sometimes fill the space where the obsessive, negative thoughts were. In some ways this is like Sarnosizing to me as it involves a slow, gradual shift in thinking and practice that brings huge results over time.
Vicki |
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UK james
United Kingdom
37 Posts |
Posted - 03/05/2007 : 12:02:07
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Vicki,
I too have moments like that. It's good to use these to put things into perspective. I try and think what people with a real disability, for e.g would give to be in my shoes of having no disability. I also think back to when I was in really bad pain, I would wish to myself that if only I could be in no pain, never mind being able to run again and play football every day. I think that initial gratitude and overwhelming relief must gradually wear off but I guess it's important to reflect back?
Moving along with that, did you or anyone else feel at their best after first reading HBP or MBP? I felt so physically good and strong after reading HBP, then I recall getting gradually stressed again and I don't think I have felt so good again, even though the chronic pain has gone, if that makes sense. It was as if my circulation was really good, like a well lubricated car engine. |
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vnwees
64 Posts |
Posted - 03/05/2007 : 15:36:40
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Hi James;
Yes, I suspect many of us have had (and continue to have?) that type of experience. When it was the back pain, it was like,
"oh my god, if only I could get rid of this pain, I'd be grateful every day. I wouldn't let things get to me. Life would be good."
Then the pain was gone. I felt great! Empowered! On a natural high!
But life kept happening (dang it!). The good feelings faded.
Then it was anxiety and depression. (several deaths in the family)
Then it was like, "oh my god, if only I could feel sane again. I'd be grateful every day. I wouldn't let things get to me..." you get the idea.
So clearly, it's within me. As they say, it's not my problems that are the problem...it's my inability to deal with them.
I had been a work a holic. I needed to find ways to be challanged and enjoy my life without killing myself at work. I needed to learn about self care, starting with Sarno. I also needed to take back control...stop being so victimized by my own brain. Learn about the mindbody connection, etc.
This site has helped me and given me lots of good insight, especially on a bad day. Glad you're here. Vicki |
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shawnsmith
Czech Republic
2048 Posts |
Posted - 03/06/2007 : 06:44:00
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I think the reason that the pain comes back, after is disappearing for a long time, is that they stopped doing the mental work. One must accept the fact that it may be necessary to continue to do the mental even after they recover or else the TMS will sneak back up on them without warning. Reading passges from Dr Sarno for the rest of one's life is a good ounce of prevention.
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Sarno-ize it!
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Letting Go
