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csmoon
USA
38 Posts |
 Posted - 11/06/2007 : 12:57:00
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I saw this fellow last night on local television. He was visiting my local Barnes & Noble signing copies of his book. His crusade is to educate the medical profession about stress and its myriad manifestations in the body. He is now traveling the country to speak at medical conventions and the like to try to raise awareness about the pathetic state of health care and dealing with these conditions. Back and neck pain is listed first among them in his introduction.
For those of you still struggling to make a connection between your pain and your emotional life, this could be a good reference. He wants to change the terms "psychosomatic disorder," "somataform disorder," and "functional illness," all of which we loosely refer to as TMS mainfestations, to "stress illness." He did not say, nor do I know, if Dr. Sarno's work is mentioned in his research. I have not read the book, but I certainly intend to at some point in the near future.
You can read the introduction to the book at amazon. There is a tab link at the top of the linked homepage. Hope everyone is doing well. Now back to my healing cave!
http://www.stressillness.com/ |
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ralphyde
USA
307 Posts |
Posted - 11/06/2007 : 14:00:33
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This must have been Dr. David D. Clarke, and I just finished reading his book called, They Can't Find Anything Wrong!: 7 Keys to Understanding, Treating, and Healing Stress Illness.
His experience in Oregon parallels that of Dr. Sarno, except that he is an Internist and a Gastroenterologist, and most of the "stress illness" he has dealt with involves people with gut pain and diarhea episodes which he attributes to stress.
He talks about the 5 types of stress:
Childhood Stress
Stress Occurring Now
Stress from a Traumatic Event
Depression
Anxiety Disorders
And his keys are:
Understand that your symptoms can be diagnosed and treated.
Search for the source of stress.
Care for yourself.
Get right by writing.
Employ appropriate therapies.
Overcome hidden resistance.
Become the person you were always meant to be.
His ideas aren't that different from Dr. Sarno's except that he doesn't have a unified underlying theory which explains why the stress causes the pain. But he presents many case studies which illustrate the various types of stress illness, mostly abdominal pain and diarhea, and how they were healed, mostly by making mental connections with childhood abuse or traumatic events, and dealing with them through writing or psychotherapy.
He never mentioned Dr. Sarno or TMS, though it is hard to believe that he hadn't heard of him or it, as their paths have been so parallel in terms of dealing with overlapping psychosomatic disorders.
I think his book is a worthwhile complement and addition to Dr. Sarno's books, especially for those who have abdominal symptoms.
Dr. Clarke is a clinical assistant professor of medicine with Oregon Health Sciences University, and a clinical lecturer with Pacific University, and he has had a private practice since 1984. He developed an award-winning monthly seminar on stress illness, and local doctors have given their patients tens of thousands of copies of his brochure on this topic. Portland Monthly magazine twice named him Top Doctor. (from back cover)
He got his medical degree in 1979, so he's quite a bit younger than Dr. Sarno.
Ralph
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armchairlinguist
USA
1397 Posts |
Posted - 11/06/2007 : 17:46:43
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Another major difference is that he does not consider depression and anxiety to be symptoms but causes/traumas. I think that is kind of a major difference. Since I have had great success in treating my depression and anxiety as equivalents, I am more on board with Sarno's theory in this area. I don't quite understand how depression and anxiety could be causes of stress illness -- surely they are themselves caused by "stress".
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It's not 100% belief that's required, but 100% commitment. |
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stanfr
USA
268 Posts |
Posted - 11/07/2007 : 03:38:24
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I just sent him an email to see what his opinion of TMS theory is. Bet i dont get a response  |
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EileenTM
92 Posts |
Posted - 11/07/2007 : 10:26:43
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armchairlinguist
Could you share with me how you have dealt with the depression and anxiety? Depression has been my toughest equivalent. I have been successful with various body pains, insomnia, racing heart, toothache, etc, etc. Once I banish those, they rarely come back. However the depression (ie. numb feeling, lack of zest or energy or joy) seems to recurr and is very hard to banish. Not sure why. What has worked for you.
Thanks
EileenTM |
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lidge
USA
184 Posts |
Posted - 11/07/2007 : 17:30:19
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Stanfr-
Seems like you did get a response.  |
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armchairlinguist
USA
1397 Posts |
Posted - 11/07/2007 : 22:31:14
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Eileen -- by therapy. I eventually got tired of trying to rev up my anger and understand and dismiss the depression as a "block" to emotions, and just decided to go for it with therapy. It's been incredibly helpful so if it's a recurring problem for you and that's possible for you, I highly recommend it. Otherwise, for both depression and anxiety, I did a lot of work with summoning anger to counteract them, and just a lot of emotional work in general.
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It's not 100% belief that's required, but 100% commitment. |
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Breaking a vow, but....
