My name is Kajsa and I have been a member of the board for quite a while though I donīt write a lot (but I am a frequent reader). (I live in Denmark so my english is not very good).
But I would like to thank Sarah Jacoba for the very interesting link she posted in the old forum about CFS and other similar syndroms (fibromyalgia etc). For those of you who missed it - I will post it again: http://www.angelfire.com/yt2/fatigue/Paper.htm
I had fibromyaliga (= severe TMS) for ten years, but since about six months I am almost painfree. But most important of all -the pain that is left doesnīt bother me at all! I have totally stoped to obsesse about it. And I actually think that is the most important thing -my goal isnīt to be painfree. It is to not be concern about the pain. The pain doesnt stop me from doing anything I want. But the fatigue has been so much more hard to fight. Though this link really helped me. "only the thougts about the symptoms is enough to trigg the fatigue...." This link is really about the enorme impact of conditining.
This weekend I met a friend who had a lot of trouble with fatigue and depression but today she is much better. Her advise ( and what she stressed over and over again) was "You have to accept the fatigue - you have to listen to your "inner child. You have to be open to what the fatigue whants to say to you. Itīs not good for you to be so angry about the fatigue2 ( I really am -and I try to ignore it) WhITH the pain my strategy was pretty much to ignore -but perhaps this symptoms needs another approach. My friend think that ignoration is a bad approach -she thinks that acception and "to listen" is much better. Any ideas?
Well, congratulations on getting rid of the pain. That in itself is a big achievement.
What your friend has said about acceptance is very interesting indeed. I've been seeing a psychotherapist for about 6 weeks now and she introduced me to a technique called EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) which is very Sarnoesque in its approach. It is a simple technique for dealing with emotions as well as with physical pain, fatigue etc. and all you have to do is basically :
- tap on a few acupressure points mainly in the head and face region and
-accept yourself despite all the problems in your life.
It's a bit like acknowledging what's going on in your life and accepting it rather than fighting it. I have noticed that fighting the pain and emotions wears me out. It is physically exhausting. Here's the link which includes a handy tutorial as well.
Hello -- Inner child understanding and some exercises with journaling made a big difference for me cracking the intense pain that I was experiencing a year ago. I was looking for some way to "directly" experience my emotions -- which were very numbed-out -- and this was most helpful. Acceptance (not the rolling over, giving up kind -- but the flowing kind) is also a very helpful mode for me in all kinds of situations. Just letting things "BE" and knowing that it is not my job to REACT. OBSERVATION will give me more information -- then I can make a move or a decision. Thanks for your words here. Have a great week.
Link -and the inner-child
Posted - 06/20/2004 : 13:00:05
