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FlyByNight
Canada
209 Posts |
 Posted - 07/22/2007 : 20:58:52
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1) TMS is an evolutionnary process that is there to help us go through our life and, unfortunately, just like other reptilian autonomous reactions (sweating or dilating the pupill, etc) , it cannot be controlled by conscious thoughts on a long term basis , no matter how hard these thoughts are. In the best case, some short term conscious control of these processes may be possible but they are impossible to achieve 24/24.
2) TMS is a signal that an emotional conflict exist somwehere .... Even if you solve the initial conflict that first created your primary pain onset, new conflicts can replace them and perpetuate the pain. Emotional conflict mean a manifestation of reality opposite to what we truely believe. It can be an action or simply the observation of an outcome, generally speaking.
3) believing that you can modulate the level of pain at will and on a lasting perspective by journalling, or thinking emotional is a major pitfall simply because its not true. Yes of course you can modulate pain levels on a very short term basis by doing your daily journal (I did experience major pain release many times while I was journaling). Because the autonomous nervous system is controlled by the very primitive reptilian part of our brain and that this part of the NCS does not have a memory that last for more than a couple of hours , chances are that these temporary releases will not last.
I'm not saying you cannot unlearn expecting pain each time you twist or bend. Im talking about the part of TMS that is directly related to internal conflicts, not conditionning. You cannot control this pain reaction as you cannot control your sweating, period. This strategy will always be there, because, from an evolutionary perspective, it's a good strategy for us humans.
I am not saying that journaling is not a good thing either. I am just not really buying into the idea that journalling "tells the unconscious that HAHAAAAA I discovered your strategy , you nasty TMS Gremlin ...and TMS goes away forever!!! " ....Journaling will help identify and resolve internal conflicts, thus decreasing the need to activate the TMS strategy. This is what it does, nothing more , nothing less. Journaling is a very healthy thing to do to help "stay up to date" in our knowledge of our internal conflicts and to help us identifying what needs to be done to act on them. It was very important for me to accept these ideas to start restabilize my mindbody reactions ...
Developping an internal conflict about TMS recovery itself ....huh. .. very nasty isnt it ????... but soo true ...
Example: if you are realizing after a while that your TMS work does not produce any positive result on the long run and are still being convinced that it "should" produce improvements (because you see other TMSers going better after reading sarno, etc etc), chances are that it will creat a new , very nasty, internal emotional conflict within yourself. IF this new conflict roots itself deeper (because you want to believe 100%, you do your homework and you try soooo hard ..... but are still not in control of the random manifestations of the pain), it will trigger TMS reaction and perpetuate or enhance symptoms and make them constant with nooooooo break at all !!! this is where HELL begins ! (Don't forget that TMS symptoms are there to tell you there is a conflict within even if the conflict is concerning your own belief system about the nature and behavior of your own TMS ...)
I now strongly believe that this last point is THE major catch 22 where many of us get lost I think at some point in our recovery.
My 50 cents to recovery
1) First accept that you cannot control the pain by anything you do, anything, 2) accept that the TMS strategy is ultimately there because its "GOOD" for your being even if you do not see it... The only thing you can do to get back to equilibrium with your TMS strategy is stop feeding it by avoiding ceating new emotional conflicts 3) accept that having any expectation on the way pain will react to anything you do will ultimately lead to internal conflict, because TMS will NEVER react the way you'd like it or expect it to react. 4) resume your life based on these 3 premises ...
Pat |
Edited by - FlyByNight on 07/24/2007 10:28:33 |
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salamander
85 Posts |
Posted - 07/23/2007 : 00:12:53
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Pat,
Thank you for taking the time (and it must have taken some time) to so nicely convey what I feel is the crux of recovery from TMS. Too many people get frustrated because they do not truly understand the mechanism that is at work. I think you described it beautifully.
Regards,
Doug |
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salamander
85 Posts |
Posted - 07/23/2007 : 00:20:06
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| ....this is also why #3 never really worked for me. To get on with one's life is the simple answer. |
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FlyByNight
Canada
209 Posts |
Posted - 07/23/2007 : 22:12:52
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Doug,
actually, its nothing new, but I felt that I had to write it as I now understand it for real ... (it took 2 years to understand it actually) . I guess I just needed a model of TMS that worked for me than just some words I was reading and forcing myself to buy despite paradoxes and inconsistencies.
It was when reading a post by Dave some time ago that it just appeared clear in my mind (thanx Dave btw) and Well ... its working more than great since a couple of months now !
Almost too good to be true.
P.
Pat |
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sensei adam rostocki
USA
167 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2007 : 11:26:50
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Hi Pat, Respectfully, I disagree with you on many of your points…
Using your points…
1. TMS CAN be controlled by conscious thoughts. The multitudes of fully recovered patients such as myself have PROVEN that.
2. Not all TMS is about internal conflict. That is a gross oversimplification. Conflict is merely one of many facets to subconscious TMS causation.
3. The goal of TMS treatment is not to modulate the levels of pain. The goal of treatment is to acknowledge the psycho-emotional causes, thereby rendering them exposed and powerless. Knowledge therapy is not about pain control, it is about ending the need for psychosomatic distractive symptoms altogether.
In response to your 50 cents on recovery, rule 1…
There are things you can do, not only to facilitate recovery, but to insure it. That is the point of knowledge therapy. There is no need to accept TMS stategy, since it is the very goal of treatment to alter that strategy, eliminating the need for physical symptoms.
For patients that are having a difficult time with the cure, remember these things. The version of TMS described here by Pat seems like it is unbeatable, which is obviously NOT the case.
Once again, respectfully, - Sensei
CURE-BACK-PAIN(dot)ORG |
Edited by - sensei adam rostocki on 07/24/2007 11:27:21 |
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FlyByNight
Canada
209 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2007 : 16:04:14
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sensei.
maybe I did express myself in a very unclear way . First I never said that the pain is unbeatable. I said that the 'strategy' itself is unbeatable ... Symptom imperative is the living proof of that... Even Zen monks have TMS from Time to time...
My only point is that "a powerful way to beat TMS is actually stop wanting to beat it and accept the TMS strategy as healthy and part of our normal biology. Then and only then you can learn to live in symbiosis with this strategy and then pain fades away." Of course, TMS will come back, probably somewhere else in your body or under another form, but if you learn to live in symbiosis with it and stop wanting it to go away or controlling it, it will just not become Hell on earth as it is for many hard core TMS suferer like I was before.
the funny thing with this TMS strategy is that it becomes almost as obsessive in creating pain as we are obsessed fighting the pain.
And if TMS was only a kind of mirror .... a simple reflection of our own obsessions. It would be foolish to try to fight it just as it would be foolish to try to fight our own image with a sword in front of a mirror glass to exhaustion ........
As I said, i am only expressing the TMS model that worked for me . nothing more nothing less, and I am not saying that other ways can lead to freedom.
Thanx for your respectful comments though. I do appreciate them fully
P.
TMS is a good thing, not a bad one. |
Edited by - FlyByNight on 07/24/2007 17:12:43 |
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sensei adam rostocki
USA
167 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2007 : 17:11:21
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Pat, It is true that TMS is such a personal process. Every patient has a truly unique experience. I see your points in the original post. I simply added my comments for the sake of newbies who often seem confused about the very nature of the condition. There are some who take every post as law, rather than interpretation. Best, Sensei
CURE-BACK-PAIN(dot)ORG |
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my 50 cents to recovery
