Frustration Increasing - Pain Worsening

Hi All

I've been at this TMS journey for a few months now and I feel like somehow in just a few short days I am regressing to the pain levels I felt when I first started this journey. I am struggling with the anger associated from not getting better, which is also increasing doubt in the process and that it will work for me.

Its really hard not to get frustrated, especially when I feel like I have been at this for some time now and have not seen the amount of progress I was hoping for by this point. I know I can probably focus more on the structured education program, and reading more on TMS, and journaling more, but a lot of times after a long and stressful work day, I don't want to "work" anymore. I want to have some time to myself to do activities i enjoy before it is time to go to sleep (i work very long hours).

I don't want to give up on TMS and continuing to see this through, but it is really hard when I feel so frustrated with the level of progress I have made.

Any advice?

 

Hi elizabethswan,

I can identify with how you're feeling re anger and frustration at lack of progress - it's what I call 'despondency'. I'm not recovered from TMS myself, but I thought I'd reply to you with what I'm finding good and what I'm currently trying...

My tip for tackling 'despondency' is to put your attention on your breathing whenever you notice that you're feeling this way - breath in for a count of 4 and out for a count of 4 and keep doing this until you don't feel het up anymore - or at least until you feel less het up about it. (I also find this good for getting back off to sleep if I awake in the middle of the night with muscle discomfort/pain.)

Something else that you can do that doesn't involve stopping what you're involved in, whether you be at work or at home doing enjoyable activities, is to cultivate a general 'attitude of gratitude' throughout the day. (I'm not saying here that, as a person with TMS, you're liable to be an ungrateful person, but when we're caught up in the business of daily living we can forget to appreciate the small things in life...we tend to get upset when things go wrong, e.g. when, say, the washing machine breaks down and isn't working, but we don't feel particular pleased or grateful when the washing machine is working; we tend take things for granted.) Cultivating an 'attitude of gratitude' is soothing and uplifting and alters the brain. These articles about the health benefits of a daily gratitude practice might be of interest: https://qz.com/1463947/the-science-behind-the-health-benefits-of-a-daily-gratitude-practice/amp/ (The science behind the health benefits of a daily gratitude practice) and https://theweek.com/articles/601157/neuroscience-reveals-4-rituals-that-make-happy (Neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happy). And I’m following Fred Amir’s advice in this thread re gratitude https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/many-benefits-of-giving-thanks.17467/ (Many Benefits of Giving Thanks)

Last, but not least, in a post on another forum thread Duggit wrote the following about ISTDP, which is a therapy that Dr Sarno approved of for those who find it difficult to make progress:

"...you might be interested to know that ISTDP therapist Kristian Nibe has written a self-help ISTDP book for laypeople titled Reconnect to Your Core. Amazon sells it. Nibe is from Norway, and it is obvious that English is not his native tongue, e.g., there are some subject-verb disagreement issues. Despite this shortcoming and his annoying practice (to me, at least) of using less-than and more-than signs for quotation marks (i.e., <<like this>>), I think the book is pretty good. You can find significant excerpts from the book on his website here:

https://kristiannibe.com/reconnect-to-your-core-content/the-real-cause-of-psychological-problems/ (The real cause of psychological problems - Kristian Nibe)

The various excerpts available are listed in a column on the left side of the page."

I've bought the book on Kindle and so much therein is resonating with me. You don't have to set aside time to work at ISTDP; it's something that has to be woven into your life with tenacity for it to work. I'll obviously post up about it if it works for me.

I hope something I've said is of interest and helps.

Best to you;
BloodMoon

 

Thanks so much for the advice! I will definitely look into these