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marytabby
USA
545 Posts |
 Posted - 09/16/2007 : 06:23:15
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Dave (or any others who know what he is saying about depression and meds),
In the previous thread about the stomach ulcers, you wrote something that was new info to me and I'd like to hear more if you please.
You mention that people with depression have a chemical imbalance in their brain due to TMS, so all the meds they create in a lab don't fix the issue, because after all it's just the TMS gremlin.
Can you elaborate on this info, because if I understand you correctly, you're saying that just like we can rid ourselves of say, lower back pain, we can also rid ourselves of depression, because in the end, it's all just the TMS gremlin screwing with us.
Is this all it really boils down to? Was that what you were saying?
Reason I'm asking is I've been contemplating a mild anti-depressant for myself but have been thinking about it for two years and have yet to take the leap for various reasons of concern over taking a "happy" pill. I'd appreciate any light you can shed onto this stuff. Thanks. |
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Dave
USA
1864 Posts |
Posted - 09/16/2007 : 08:12:29
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According to the theory, depression and anxiety are considered TMS equivalents, i.e. symptoms. Drugs can address the symptom but the underlying cause is repressed emotions. Thus, it is effectively the same as taking painkillers for lower back pain.
Those with severe symptoms may be helped by medication. I believe it is not counter to treating TMS provided that you recognize that you are treating the symptom. But if you treat depression as a TMS symptom then it too should fade over time as you do the work and address the underlying psychological issues. |
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armchairlinguist
USA
1397 Posts |
Posted - 09/16/2007 : 11:54:19
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This info is in MBP, pp. 30-31 & 37-39, if you want to hear it in Sarno's own words. He basically says that the chemical imbalance that the drugs treat is an effect (symptom), rather than a cause, of depression, and that depression is a TMS equivalent that functions by pushing all real emotions away, and setting up other feelings (emptiness, hopelessness) as a distraction.
I can't add any personal experience about the meds, but I can say that personally I've been well-served by treating my depression as a TMS equivalent. When I feel that familiar dead emptiness, I try to push myself to figure out what real emotions it is hiding. As a result I have many fewer experiences of it because it's replaced with the real pain that I've been hiding from. It's painful but at least I don't feel dead.
This description is also consonant with Alice Miller (The Drama of the Gifted Child, who says that being cut off from one's true self causes feelings of emptiness, purposelessness, and hopelessness, because what is authentic and true and genuine about us is lost to us. It makes a lot of sense to me. I have felt much more alive since beginning emotional and inner child work. It is very hard though.
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Wherever you go, there you are. |
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Question for Dave
