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verdammt
Canada
97 Posts |
 Posted - 04/02/2005 : 20:36:14
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I'm beginning to wonder if there are two kinds of TMS:
1. the familiar type that fixates on bodily pain, as decribed by Dr. Sarno; and,
2. a conscious variation that fixates on external sensory stimuli (smell, sound, sight, physical discomfort, etc.)
Just for convenience, I call the latter X-TMS, as in external-TMS. It has a lot of different names: irritability, intolerance, hypersensitivity or just plain peevishness. Whatever the name, it seems to serve the same purpose as Sarno's TMS, in that it provides a convenient distraction from our unconscious rage, anger and anxiety.
It affects me all the time. I'm surprised at how many things bother me and have bothered me most of my adult life. I can't stand many smells (perfumes, scented detergents/soaps, cigarette smoke). I don't like noise (airplanes, traffic, barking dogs, a neighbor's kid bouncing a basketball, a loud TV in an adjoining hotel room). I'm always just a little too hot or too cold (constantly fidgeting with the home thermostat and the heater/AC controls in the car). I don't like brightly lit rooms or too much direct sun.
The majority of people can ignore this stuff. I tend to fixate on it. I've become hypersensitive to the world around me. I don't think I'm alone with this syndrome.
What do you think? Could this sensory hypersensitivity be another form of TMS? If I defeat all my physical TMS problems, will external irritants bother me even more?
The closest Sarno comes to discussing this is in relation to allergies.
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Laura
USA
655 Posts |
Posted - 04/02/2005 : 22:23:30
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Hi, Verdammt,
I think you may have something there. When I read your post, I realized that I am bothered by the same things that you are. I find my inner rage just boiling over sometimes, like I'm going to pop! Lately, so MANY things have been bothering me and I feel myself bubbling up on the inside ready to explode. Just a few nights ago, my husband and I went to the sushi bar. Somebody WREAKED of cologne and it was really ruining things for me, taste-wise. My husband didn't even notice it. When we were first being seated, I asked the hostess if we could have the next two seats over, allowing a seat in between us and the rather strange looking woman sitting there. The hostess said "I cannot skip seats - I'm not skipping tonight." I was really irritated but my husband just shrugged his shoulders and sat down. Sometimes I really think I need to gain more tolerance of other people and their attitudes but it's just the little day to day bulls--- that soon snowballs into huge bulls--- and then you start having all sorts of stuff happen to you physically. Just writing this has my thumb doing the weird burning thing it's been doing for three days.
Oy, Vay!
I hope you get some more responses because I think you bring up an interesting point.
Laura
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marytabby
USA
545 Posts |
Posted - 04/03/2005 : 06:45:44
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Not sure if there is a name for this syndrome but I too have it. It's like everything external aggravates me. If someone is making noises in the cube next to me at work, or someone on the train's hazlenut flavored coffee is wafting up into my area of smell, or if there's a whistle coming from the neighbor's shower pipes downstairs, getting into an elevator when someone just walked off wearing Hai Karate cologne, or worse yet, someone gets on the elevator with kicking bad breath that is so gross and rotten it's about to WRECK my day, even though I will be getting off the elevator in a few floors. The list goes on and on. Everyone else says, hmm... I didn't even notice it. And yet I notice these things right away. It's like I have a 6th sense for things that aggravate me. They sometimes can ENRAGE me. That's how badly it can get. It's like I have no tolerance for things unless they are how I want them, which is PERFECT. It's that perfection thing I think. If things aren't just so environmentally, I am VERY VERY annoyed. So, maybe you're right, maybe it's a mechanism to distract us from what's really bothering us, so our mind concentrates on all the aggravations it can, to avoid the underlying, brewing, festering thing that is plaguing us?
I am guilty as sin of all you describe. |
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Laura
USA
655 Posts |
Posted - 04/03/2005 : 11:05:50
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Mary,
You hit the nail on the head. We DO want everything to be the way WE want it and that way is supposed to be PERFECT!!! I could not agree with you more. The Hai Karate thing and the bad breath really ring true. I swear, what is it with people bathing in their cologne? It makes you wonder if they showered or not.
My parents were just visiting for three weeks. They are in their 70's and both of them have this odor that makes me feel sick when I'm around them. My Dad's been wearing the same nasty smelling cologne all his life and it makes me gag. They both have bad breath a great deal of the time as well. They have this unique odor that I have never smelled before and it permeates into everything. For example, my Dad left his jacket in my car when we went into a restaurant. It was a warm sunny day and when we got back into my new car (that has the wonderful new car scent) it wreaked of the smell from my Dad's jacket. I put the windows down and my parents complained that it was too windy! Talk about inner rage!!!! I was so worried my perfect smelling new car was going to stay that way forever and smell like them. The guilt alone on this is enough to drive you insane.
Noise bothers me more than most people too. I like things quiet. One of our neighbors is a teenage girl who drives a sports car that has one of those mufflers that sounds like there is no muffler. Apparently this is the cool thing to do, I don't know. We live on the corner of our street and every single frickin time she goes by I hear it and I saw out loud "And there she goes again, and we're all forced to listen to her damn muffler." It ANNOYS the heck out of me. My husband barely notices it.
Do you ever wonder if it's just you or other people feel the same way? I think sometimes I'm just hypersensitive. Like, I have the hearing and sense of smell of a dog or something Crazy!
Laura
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verdammt
Canada
97 Posts |
Posted - 04/03/2005 : 12:04:12
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Thanks for the feedback, Laura and Mary.
Just out of curiousity, did either of you ever smoke? I did for a few years but quit cold turkey in 1978 (recurring chest pains scared the hell out of me). Haven't touched a cig since, though I've had the occasional disturbing dream about starting up again during the past 27 years.
Anyway, I became a militant non-smoker in '78 and couldn't tolerate a trace of cigarette smoke within a block. It seems like that's about the time my sense of smell became super-acute. So originally it was a health issue. Then, I started targeting household smells, like laundry detergent and fabric softener, cleaning products and on and on. I've been a real pain to live with, no doubt.
On the other hand, it seems to be part of a growing trend these days. You can buy "unscented" versions of most products now, and there are designated "scent-free" buildings and meeting rooms. Apart from second-hand cigarette smoke (which I believe is truly dangerous), I'm convinced it's all psychological.
Check out this list of reactions associated with smells, posted on a Canadian government Occupational Health web site. I mean, come on! It's ludicrous. It's TMS all the way.
http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/hsprograms/scent_free.html
• headaches
• dizziness, lightheadedness
• nausea
• fatigue
• weakness
• insomnia
• malaise
• confusion
• loss of appetite
• depression
• anxiety
• numbness
• upper respiratory symptoms
• shortness of breath
• difficulty with concentration
• skin irritation
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Edited by - verdammt on 04/03/2005 12:33:54 |
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Baseball65
USA
734 Posts |
Posted - 04/03/2005 : 14:22:12
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Hi everyone..
All the posts on this string have one thing in common..these are all symptoms of Obsessive compulsive disorder or OCD.
OCD is characterized by a preoccupation with control issues outside the scope of the persons control,sounds,smells,germs,other peoples conduct etc.The sufferer becomes obsessed with the barking dog,the rude smoker,the smell they find offensive,the person they want to appease or confront....it's almost as if their sense's are on 10 all the time,looking for something to latch on to.When the issues are 'resolved' the OCDer just latches onto the next article of distraction....if the Dog stops barking,the next neighbors stereo becomes the object of fixation.
When it begins to occupy the persons attention exclusively the jargon is they are "binding" the anxiety with the repetitive thoughts that check and recheck the external stimuli to see if it is conforming to their wants or wishes.
It has been well understood by psychologists that OCD is actually a diversion from a conflict inside of that person that they are not emotionally equipped to deal with e.g. a death,separation,a stressful event or a pile of smaller problems.In that context,TMS is fundamentally OCD of the body...creating a problem where there is none to the supposed "aid" of the sufferer whilst the true problem goes unaddressed.Like any illness.left untreated it only grows worse with time,until the sufferer is completely preoccupied with the annoyances.
It is strongly genetic and is particularly strong in people of Jewish descent.I have written on it before,and it is odd that many of the symptoms are reminiscent of the Mitzpha's(spling??)
Handwashing rituals,double and triple checking of minor everyday necessities(locking doors,parking cars,washing hands)
Almost to a man(or woman) an OCDer goes through some stage of germ phobia...that is the universal thread of OCD...the sort of slam dunk diagnostic symptom.It might be when they are 5 or when they are 40 ,but it is universal in all textbook cases.
There are 2 main forms of treatment for OCD which I will not elaborate on here,but it is treatable and it is TMS in another coat...not a secondary layer,just another equivalent.Sarno himself has written on it.
The ironic part of OCD is it's "doubting" characteristic,,,it is even called "the disease of doubt"...the very people who suffer from it are unlikely to acknowledge having it because of their need for certainty,and their fear that they alone suffer from this malady,hence the observations that
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I was really irritated but my husband just shrugged his shoulders and sat down
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Everyone else says, hmm... I didn't even notice it.
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My husband barely notices it.
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The majority of people can ignore this stuff. I tend to fixate on it.
I can generally spot and OCDer right away.I know ,because I have it.
It is a ruthless taskmaster.
Peace
Baseball65 |
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marytabby
USA
545 Posts |
Posted - 04/03/2005 : 16:57:42
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Verdammt,
I smoked when I was in my late teens/early twenties/college years but quit by age 22, and I am now almost forty. So I don't know if that had anything to do with it, though I am a HOUND DOG about cigarette smoke, partially because I am a singer a few weekends a month and when people are chain smoking in the clubs, I lose my voice and go home reeking with my clothes and hair and skin so gross! But MA has passed a smoking ban so that took care of that. No more public smoking. Baseball, I don't know if I am OCD but I'll take it up with my new therapist, see if she thinks I am. I do not do the over washing, etc. In fact I probably don't divert germs enough, meaning I should wash more in bathrooms, etc. Thanks for your detailed reply. |
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Laura
USA
655 Posts |
Posted - 04/03/2005 : 18:21:21
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Baseball,
Wow! Now you really have me worried. I sure hope it's not OCD. I don't have the hand washing thing or the checking and re-checking thing. My house could certainly be neater, cleaner, and more organized. I'm going to check into it though if you think it's a possibility.
Laura
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Baseball65
USA
734 Posts |
Posted - 04/03/2005 : 18:35:24
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Let me clarify a little..
They have now isolated 2 different types of OCD.
The first type is genetically predisposed,is characterised and defined by age 5 or so and is a life long issue(like TMS)
recently,they have distinguished a new class of OCD ,,,,,I think it's called Obsessive compulsive syndrome,as it is brought on by a combination of factors(environment,stress).These people resemble OCDers very closely,but upon investigation aquired the symptoms over a period of times.
I have had OCD as long as I can remember(age 4/5)
People with the newer form tend to get it in their late 20's-30's....our society almost manufactures it.They treat the two very differently.OCD is usually treated with meds or cognitive therapy,the aquired type requires no meds,just awareness,counseling/therapy and behaviour modification.
One might compare it to Alcoholism.Some people are knock down out of control drunks from their first experience,while others slowly slip into it by drinking too much for too long.
Anyways,there is a solution,but you have to identify the problem...if you never went through the handwashing rituals,than you probably have developed the lower intensity aquired type.
peace
Baseball65 |
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verdammt
Canada
97 Posts |
Posted - 04/03/2005 : 18:40:34
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Not so fast. Our irritability/acute sensitivity may be linked to anxiety, but I don't believe we have OCD. I've searched high and low and haven't found any OCD web sites that mention external stimuli like smells or noise.
The National Institute of Mental Health's definition reads: "OCD... is characterized by recurrent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and/or repetitive behaviors (compulsions). Repetitive behaviors such as handwashing, counting, checking, or cleaning are often performed with the hope of preventing obsessive thoughts or making them go away. Performing these so-called "rituals," however, provides only temporary relief, and not performing them markedly increases anxiety."
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/HealthInformation/ocdmenu.cfm
I've never had a germ phobia or indulged in repeated hand-washing or any other ritualistic behavior. I AM aware of germs and I'm concerned about them affecting my health, but so is the general public, especially after the SARS outbreak. This isn't collective OCD. Our standards of hygiene are simply improving. People handling food in delis and fast-food joints all wear disposable gloves now to prevent e.coli outbreaks. Most public restrooms now have liquid soap dispensers (instead of wet bars of soap, ech!), electronically activated faucets and urinals, foot-operated toilets, and even hands-free paper towel dispensers. I can't believe this has all been done to accommodate the 2% of the population that has OCD and a germ phobia.
The same applies to the unscented products and buildings I mentioned. They couldn't exist just for the sake of a few OCD sufferers.
If OCD is "the disease of doubt" as baseball65 claims, I believe it's more because the sufferers doubt their own senses. They're not sure they locked the door or turned off the stove or really got all the germs off their hands, so they check and recheck and wash and rewash.
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verdammt
Canada
97 Posts |
Posted - 04/03/2005 : 19:00:57
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Laura and Mary - regarding the men/women who wear too much cologne. The problem's not you. It's them!
Olfactory Reference Syndrome (ORS) is the excessive, irrational fear that one is emitting a foul or unpleasant odor. The obsession may be an exaggerated, disproportionate concern with a natural body smell, or may involve an entirely imagined odor.
Compulsive ORS behaviors include:
Repetitive showering and other grooming behaviors
Excessive use of deodorants, perfumes, and mouthwash
Repeatedly checking the source of the alleged odor
Seeking reassurance from others that there is no odor
Avoidance of social situations for fear that others will notice the smell
Multiple visits to doctors regarding the odor.
http://www.ocdla.com/olfactoryreferencesyndrome.html
P.S. Check out the Quick OCD Test at this site to calm (or confirm?) your fears. |
Edited by - verdammt on 04/03/2005 19:46:27 |
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Laura
USA
655 Posts |
Posted - 04/03/2005 : 19:57:57
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Well, I'm not jumping to any conclusions. I'm pretty sure I don't have OCD. I am, however, on stress overload once again, due to mounting pressures to make everyone around me happy - daughter (wants her bat mitzvah a certain way), husband (keeps badgering me about how much it's all going to cost), well meaning friends (giving me pressure about the speech I may or may not give), and a million and one other things. I think I reach a point where I push stuff down and push it down and pretty soon there's nowhere left to put it. That's when every little thing starts to really bother me.
With regards to the perfume thing, I just know that some people just wreak with perfume and it's almost as if they're trying to drown out their own smell. Like, I'll be on the treadmill at the gym and some person comes along and smells like they just took a bath in some cheap perfume and all I want to do is get off and find another machine. That's when the anger and rage set in. Or, you're walking up to the mall entrance and outside are about 80 teenagers, smoking up a storm, and you are choking as you make your way through, trying to hold your breath. It just pisses me off that nobody has any regard for anyone else. Have you ever seen the sign that reads "Mind if I smoke?" to which the reply is "Mind if I breathe?" I know I do have a cleanliness fetish - I can't stand getting my feet dirty. Something about it really bugs me. If we stay in a hotel, I've got flip flops or slippers on at all times. I even wear flip flops in the shower - this comes from years and years of my mother telling me I'd get athlete's foot or plantar warts from places like that. Also, when I was growing up our house was such a filthy mess that I really hate it when my own house isn't upto par. But I certainly don't let it make me nuts. I clean it when I can.
This is an interesting topic. Thanks for starting the thread, Verdammt.
Laura
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Baseball65
USA
734 Posts |
Posted - 04/03/2005 : 22:23:43
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Hi verdammt,Laura,Mary..
I wasn't condemning you guys to the OCD scrapheap,merely observing that the desire to control things and become fixated upon things That don't seem to be bothering other people is reminiscent of latter stage OCD.
The quotes that I hi-lited were the ones that got my eyebrows raised.
Barking dogs that don't bother others,neighbors mufflers and the like are all familiar echoes.
Anybody can become irritated by these sort of things....when they take up attention and brainspace inordinate to the amount of relative importance than we're moving towards an obsession.
I qualified the description with needing to have the "germ phobia"...if you never had it,you don't have organic/genetic OCD.Period.It is the one crucial denominator.
But when you originally put it in the TMS comparison,I couldn't help but notice the similarities...My TMS was all consuming,obsessional and occupied all of the strategic portion of my reasoning(how I was going to escape the pain)just like my OCD had been(which by the way vanished while I was suffering TMS...my mind needed no other distraction.
As I said,Sarno himself in HBP used OCD as a comparison as it is the process of letting an irrational distraction occupy the conscious mind of the sufferer,and that when normal concerns take on abnormal brainspace it is another way to keep one from the emotional realm.
anyways...just food for thought.I'm gald you don't have OCD...I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.
out
Baseball65 |
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Laura
USA
655 Posts |
Posted - 04/03/2005 : 23:25:57
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Hey, Baseball, didn't Howard Stern cure his OCD with Dr. Sarno and his books? Anyway, thanks for posting and giving us something to think about. I always enjoy your posts! Hope things are going well for you.
By the way, I loved what you wrote on another thread where you explained how you go about writing down all the things that are bothering you about a particular person or situation. I found it intriguing and am going to give it a try. Thanks for the info.
Have a nice week!
Laura
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Tunza
New Zealand
198 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2005 : 02:41:55
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Do you think the princess from the fairytale "The Princess and the Pea" had hypersensitivity?
She could feel the pea that was underneath all those mattresses. 
Kat |
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Fox
USA
496 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2005 : 08:21:12
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| Count me in on the fear and anger regarding environmental smells and noises, but I also have no problem with the traditional OCD stuff like handwashing and obsessive checking. I'm sure it's a TMS equivalent in my case. This kind of hypersensitivity is also a predominant feature in fibromyalgia which Sarno says is just a strong case of TMS. |
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verdammt
Canada
97 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2005 : 18:14:28
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Does anyone remember Alvin Toffler's 1970 book, Future Shock? He theorized that we were all in a state of physical and mental upheaval, trying to cope with the rapid rate of change in western society and increasing overstimulation (ahhhh, remember calm, peaceful 1970?). We haven't had time to adjust as a species. Maybe that's at the heart of our problems. A world that's out of control.
I seem to remember Toffler speculating that people would cope with sensory overstimulation by shutting it out whenever they could: by wearing dark glasses, earplugs/headphones, etc. I don't know what he said about smells.
There's no acceptable way to shut out smells – you can't wear a charcoal-filtered respirator on your face all day. We're defenseless, so maybe we respond by going on the offense, trying to eliminate smells at the source.
Any odors that manage to reach us are blown way out of proportion because they're relatively rare. We perceive them as intrusive, overpowering and often inescapable.
I have to admit, my day is almost smell-free. I'm olfactorily blind, and it's by choice. Maybe it's a mistake. There's something unnatural about it. I wonder whether I'm a fully functional human being as a result.
Could this be throwing my other senses out of balance?
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Edited by - verdammt on 04/04/2005 18:17:34 |
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Laura
USA
655 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2005 : 19:22:48
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Verdammt,
In the past 10 years or so, I've noticed an increasing hypersensitivity to noise too. Things that make me plug my ears with my fingers don't even phase most people. Sure, if you ask them "Does that seem really loud to you?" they'll say "yes," but it doesn't seem to affect them or bother them quite the way it does me. Noise seems to penetrate me to the core. I cannot handle it. Last Saturday we had a malfunction in our smoke detectors. There are 8 of them in our house and one of them was malfunctioning, which in turn was setting off all the others. It was a flippin nightmare! All night long those things kept going off and my ears were buzzing. Even my dog didn't seem to be as bothered by it as me. I don't know. I hate being so hypersensitive to stuff.
Laura
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verdammt
Canada
97 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2005 : 20:20:53
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Laura,
A lot depends on perspective here. Maybe in terms of our senses, we're normal and the majority of people are slugs; dullards who are barely aware of anything going on around them. (There's a lot of evidence to support this!)
I can't imagine any normal person being able to endure 8 smoke detectors going off. Think about it. A smoke detector is no clock-radio. It's an ALARM. It's designed to wake people up so they don't die from smoke inhalation. It can't be customized, so it has to account for extreme scenarios: people who are dead-drunk or stoned, who snore, who are almost deaf.
It's torture being near them. You're supposed to run out of the house when they go off.
There's nothing wrong with you. Sleep well tonight.
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ssjs
USA
147 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2005 : 21:06:56
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Maybe if you are carrying around anger that you are afraid to let out, EVERYTHING starts to make you angry.
Especially things you can't control that arn't really important.
It is easier to be angry at someone who is using too much perfume(instead of just shrugging it off and walking away) than to be angry at our lives. |
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Caroline
USA
55 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2005 : 14:22:40
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[quote]Originally posted by Tunza
Do you think the princess from the fairytale "The Princess and the Pea" had hypersensitivity?:)]
This quote really caught my attention. The princess on the pea describes me to a T. I find this discussion absolutely fascinating. For years I found my mother insufferable because she would complain about everything and everybody: the noisy neighbors upstairs, the
honking of the cars, the unwrapping of candy at the theater, etc. her sensory intolerance seemed to focus on the auditory. Well guess what is happening to me now? I am doing the SAME thing! I spend a good part of my time with ear plugs (when I read, fly, sleep, etc.)
Verdamnt and Baseball I think you have hit on something there. It NEVER occurred to me this could be a form of OCD or that it could be related to TMS but it makes perfect sense. Thank you for these enlightening posts! |
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X-TMS: sensory hypersensitivity
