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JohnD
USA
371 Posts |
 Posted - 10/23/2007 : 17:21:52
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Does Sarno do the people who buy and read his books a disservice by being overly optimistic about recovery in regards to length of time it takes to recover and the ability to achieve a complete recovery just using only his methods?
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Stryder
686 Posts |
Posted - 10/23/2007 : 17:47:40
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I'm thinking, in the big picture, no. I think it depends more on how long and how bad you are afflicted by TMS. If you have a quick DX and don't _linger_ in the _the system_ for an eternity, then you could recovery in short order.
If you've had severe LBP for years, its going to take weeks or months for your muscles to recover. If you've had bad LBP for a couple weeks the recovery can be quick if you buy in at the start and match the personality profile.
That said, I do agree that some smaller percentage people do have a spontaneous / rapid recovery, put the book(s) down and never are afflicted again. Likley most of us take weeks or months.
Either way, in the end, for $14.95, we all win ! !
Take care, -Stryder |
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armchairlinguist
USA
1397 Posts |
Posted - 10/23/2007 : 18:43:08
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Sarno reports his experience with patients. He can't report our experiences because he knows nothing about them. Presumably it is the case that the majority of his patients recover completely and do so in a short span of time.
It's been observed that boardies are not necessarily the best testing ground for statistics. Most people stop being active on the board once healed; the archives are full of people who pop in for a bit of help and are either never seen again or come back with quick success, then leave. (I had very quick success, but somehow I haven't left yet...  ) Plus, we don't all get the treatment that he prescribes, nor the benefit of having a TMS doctor (THE TMS doctor even) tell us our diagnosis.
In short, Sarno can only, and presumably is, reporting what he sees, and can't easily say otherwise even if we might like him to.
And this:
quote:
If you've had severe LBP for years, its going to take weeks or months for your muscles to recover.
is not necessarily true! I had RSI for three years and recovered virtually completely within two weeks, which is well under Sarno's projected time. With TMS there isn't usually anything wrong with the muscles, so lack of fitness due to lack of use is the main complicating factor, and it's not any worse than someone sedentary starting to exercise for the first time.
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It's not 100% belief that's required, but 100% commitment. |
Edited by - armchairlinguist on 10/23/2007 18:48:15 |
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JohnD
USA
371 Posts |
Posted - 10/23/2007 : 19:41:17
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| What about the patients who are goodists and want to impress the good doctor and therefore exaggerate a little bit on how well they are doing? They have had some success and are very excited but probably aren't completely past it in 4-6 weeks. I think he could make more of an effort to give a realistic view of what TMS recovery entails aka the hills and valleys, new symptoms popping up maybe a year or a few years down the road etc... |
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armchairlinguist
USA
1397 Posts |
Posted - 10/23/2007 : 21:35:45
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Obviously we can't know, but I presume he does what any other good doctor would do, and follows up with his patients. He also encourages them to call him if they have new symptoms and questions, and he mentions several cases in the books in which that's happened. I really don't see why you think you would know better than Sarno what the statistics are for his patients.
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It's not 100% belief that's required, but 100% commitment. |
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JohnD
USA
371 Posts |
Posted - 10/24/2007 : 03:55:40
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| I'm just being realistic lol |
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vikki
95 Posts |
Posted - 10/24/2007 : 06:18:18
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Sarno's book is mainly anecdotal. And that's helpful, because we can relate to the anecdotes, and they help us overcome this. But I would not interpret his anecdotes as the expected length of time for me to get better. He doesn't present statistics based on a formal follow-up study of his patients. He just tells you what's possible. I like that personally -- that knowledge is incrediby liberating. (I don't *have* to be in pain -- this *could* be gone in two weeks.)
Dr. Schechter has done some formal studies:
http://www.smi-mindbodyresearch.org/publications.htm
According to this, patients do see significant improvement in 3-12 months, but it's not 100% improvement.
But then again, I don't think it's possible to know how much the patients believed the diagnosis or followed through on the treatment. |
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