Is TMS contagious?

veronica73 · Apr 11, 2012

...I'm kind of kidding, but mostly not.

Since I learned about TMS and working on it in January, I've noticed my boyfriend, who I live with, is having more TMS-like stuff (mostly back pain). Today he went to the doctor and was diagnosed with some unusual migraine disorder. He came home with the same pills my neurologist had given me in the fall (which did nothing for me). I think I just started really freaking out inside--that I'm somehow making him sick by talking about all of this mindbody stuff, that I'm going to have to listen to him being in pain and it's going to trigger pain in me, that he's going to be in tons of pain and I'm not going to be able to help him, etc.

He knows all about how I've done with TMS and feels that was probably the right diagnosis for me (I saw a TMS doctor after seeing a neurologist, pcp, pt, etc.) but that none of his stuff is that.

He's less of an obsesser than me (not that that's saying much ) so hopefully this won't hang out in him the way my pain did with me.

I know I'm being kind of mental about all this and that I am not really to blame but I just needed to vent.

dabatross · Apr 11, 2012

I think its all about the fear factor in this.. weird thing I noticed in people at work is that they didn't even notice they were in pain until I asked them questions about it. Some people are very analytical and others are able to block out things and not focus on them. Its possible by you talking about your pain that he started thinking about his own and worrying that possibly he could be suffering as well.. when you draw attention to it thats when the fear begins.

Steve · Apr 12, 2012

There's a well documented phenomenon called "emotional contagion", see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_contagion.
It seems logical the emotions of TMS could be contagious as well.

yb44 · Apr 12, 2012

I say it is. DH went to the doctor three times and was given three courses of anti-biotics for a skin condition recently. Suddenly I developed the exact same skin condition! The difference was I avoided the doctor, the drugs and all the anxiety. It went away on its own in a very short time with no muss or fuss. The mind is so powerful but the possibilities of harnessing it and using it to our advantage are exhilarating.

veronica73 · Apr 12, 2012

I feel strangely guilty about this. Obviously I'm not going to live in a cave for fear of infecting people with my feelings, but it does make me worried that how I feel might be hurting people around me.
I guess this means I'm a goodist in addition to being a perfectionist?

yb44 · Apr 12, 2012

Other people will have to find their own way. We are on our own journey. The fear you feel about infecting people...they were most likely already infected before you got there. And fear of anything will keep us rooted to the same spot. If we lose the fear, we can move forward.

It's natural for anyone with a caring nature to want to help others. One wise manager of mine once told me "you can only help those who want help and whom you have the ability to help." This became one of my mantras.

Steve · Apr 13, 2012

Veronica
You are the master of your emotional states. You create them with what you focus on, how you communicate to yourself, your beliefs, how you use your body, etc. Commit to living in good emotional states and then you can start infecting others with those.

veronica73 · Apr 13, 2012

Thanks everyone. A lot of this is tied in with my fear of hurting other people. Steve, I think I pretty much always come across as very positive, often more positive than I actually feel. People will even comment on me being very positive and upbeat. I don't take credit for that, yet I was more than willing to take the blame for making someone else sick. Hmm...

Another element here was just feeling upset about seeing my partner with a lot of the same meds, ice packs, etc. that I felt like I just "graduated" from. I think I just need to find a way to listen supportively without having his approach to pain make me doubt what I'm doing.

Forest · Apr 14, 2012

Dr. Schubiner actually wrote an article along these lines called Mind Body Syndrome is Contagious. One of the best lines in is My body had chosen the sneezing as a reaction because it had heard the other story and “filed it away” for when it might be useful. I tend to think that if we see someone else with a chronic symptom we tend to think it is more severe, so when our mind creates it (even if it is mild), we start focusing on it and think that we also have a serious problem even when it is just TMS.

The rest of Schubiner's post is below. Dr. Schubiner has given us permission to repost all of his blog articles.

Forest

Schubiner said:

When I first started learning about Mind Body Syndrome a few years ago, I was struck by an account by someone who had what is known as repetitive stress injury. He wrote an eloquent account of his story, which was published on Kim Ruby's excellent web site (www.tarpityoga.com) on MBS or TMS, as Dr. Sarno coined the term, Tension Myositis syndrome. In his account, he spoke of having had RSI many years before, but it got triggered after going to hear a lecture about it.

Medical students are well aware of how the suggestion of the symptoms of an illness can produce those symptoms. It even has a name, “medical studenitis,” since it is quite common to develop some symptoms of the disease you are studying.

Dr. Jean-Martin Charcot in France in the 1800's had a clinic for what was known as “hysterics” in the day, although these disorders (now we realize are forms of MBS) were considered to be genetic at the time. In his clinic, people with headaches, abdominal pain, anxiety, etc. would arrive and Dr. Charcot had “discovered” that there was a progression to this disorder in distinct stages: motor tics (brief, rapid tic-like movements), clowning (striking bizarre poses and holding them), hysterical seizures (shaking as if in a seizure). Amazingly, when people entered his clinic, they would almost inevitably pass through these stages, confirming Dr. Charcot's beliefs. There was a young woman with headaches who came to the clinic. Her roommate was in the tic stage, and the next day the young woman had developed the same tics. The power of suggestion is can be extremely strong, especially when given by a powerful person.

An auto accident is a powerful situation to have happen. It can definitely “shake you up.” Whiplash occurs after auto accidents, but it turns out that whiplash does not occur after auto accidents in all countries (more on this in a later blog). A study done to look at this was conducted by putting people in a simulation room and having them experience an auto accident. Despite the fact that their neck did NOT move at all, 10% of the people developed Neck Pain that lasted at least 4 weeks!! In some way, they expected to have neck pain and they did. These people were also those who had the most stress and emotional distress in their lives at the time of the experiment.

I have a friend who went to one of my lectures and read Dr. Sarno's excellent book, The Mindbody Prescription. He had been having chest pains, despite a normal exercise stress test, so his heart was physically fine. After reading the book, he started to pay attention to the times when his chest pain occurred and he found (lo and behold) that there were stressful events or stressful thoughts preceding the pains each time. When he made the connection and dealt with his stress and his thoughts, the chest pain disappeared. Later, he also noticed that his nasal congestion disappeared too. He had nasal congestion in the garden, cutting the lawn, etc. and now he could breathe fine and participate in these activities without problems. He was amazed. A few weeks later, he told me about a time when he was in his home talking to a friend. His friend confided to him that he was having a hard time, was depressed, was on medication and was suicidal at times. My friend suddenly started sneezing, coughing and his eyes were watering. He had to excuse himself and went to the bathroom. While there, he had this thought: “Boy, that got me out of there!” He realized that his body had reacted in a way it “knew,” by the “allergic reaction.” Just as suddenly, the reaction stopped. He realized that his body was trying to protect him from the uncomfortable situation by creating the sneezing/coughing reaction.

A week later, I was in my office seeing a young woman. I also saw her mother, who was a very nice lady, but one who frequently missed appointments, frequently ran out of medications, frequently called and needed special favors, etc. I had heard that the mother was very sick and possibly dying earlier. So I asked the daughter how her mom was. She told me that her mom was fine, it was a mistake about her serious illness and that the mother would be coming to see me soon. Immediately, I started sneezing. I sneezed 7-8 times quite vigorously and I felt that there was a great deal of dust in the room. The daughter even asked if I was OK. I pulled myself together and finished the visit. A few moments later, I went back into the room. No dust at all. I stopped to think; what had happened? It came to me. I sneezed for two reasons: one, I felt very guilty that I had some unconscious thoughts of hoping the mother wouldn't be seeing me, i.e. that she would really be too sick (I had to realize that I am human and even though I am embarrassed to have a thought like that, I do, as does almost everyone); secondly, I sneezed because I had “caught it” from my friend who told me about his sneezing in reaction to a stressful event. My body had chosen the sneezing as a reaction because it had heard the other story and “filed it away” for when it might be useful.

What do you think is the result of the ads on TV for medications for anxiety, erectile dysfunction, fibromyalgia, insomnia, restless leg syndrome and others? Here is a powerful message suggesting that people get these symptoms. Some of the people watching are in stressful situations in their lives and this can easily trigger the development of MBS symptoms. So, the ads actually serve to increase the number of people who may develop MBS. That is not good for our health. Fortunately, the more we know, the better we are able to cope with MBS by recognizing that the mind can cause physical symptoms. So, when I get a physical symptom, one of the first things I do is ask myself two questions: “What is going on right now?” “Why might I have developed this symptom?” The answers are often quite obvious.

To your health,

Howard Schubiner, MD
Click to expand...

Beach-Girl · Apr 14, 2012

I think there's the "caring component" going on here too. You care for each other, you've been talking about how much you've learned and how much better you feel. He may have taken this on himself. Yours is gone - so it needs to go somewhere. Plus he could have heard all your deep dark secrets, saw how you improved and bam! He got your symptoms.

Just an off the wall theory, but maybe there is some truth to it.

BG

veronica73 · Apr 15, 2012

I hope I didn't pass on the pain...but it wouldn't surprise me if this kind of thing happens. I remember getting really angry a lot with my old roommate and a therapist friend commented that my roommate seemed like the kind of person who wouldn't allow himself to express anger at all and so I was expressing it for him. Hmm.

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