Official Thread Section 1 Introduction

I thought misery loves company.

 

Just messin, Walt. Thanks man.

 

This would be a great time to send yourself some self compassion then. When you are depressed its because your thinking of sad thoughts and hopelessness over and over, get a feel good journal and write about all of your best times in life and it ill build you up. Plus it would be good for you to do some incantations like " I feel super, I feel super, I feel great, I feel great.... Do this over and over for at least 5 minutes and scientifically speaking you will not be able to stay in that depressed state ok. And remember we have like 8 to 9 billion people on this planet, You have narrowed your thoughts down to just some girls. There are thousands of girls somewhere that would love your attention. You have to be in an upbeat, energetic, encourages state though and that will happen with your incantations ok, you can do this.
Bless you

P.S. Remember Love is within us ok, you will never find it anywhere till you find it within.

 

Thanks, Herbie, this is probably the worst depression I've been in. Not suicidal or anything though. I will take your advice.

 

I would tell myself very sternly, "Stop depressing! I am not going to be depressed! I am going to think HAPPY!"
and visualize myself doing something relaxing and fun. Then shake your arms and whole body and imagine you are shaking the blues away.

I'll see if that song, danced by Ann Miller, is on Youtube and post it here. Found it!

 

"Put your faith in what you most believe in,
Two worlds, one family,
Trust your heart, let fate decide,
To guide this life we live..."

Hey, somebody has to quote Tarzan, right?

Kind of a goofy way to start my post, but I think it's terribly relevant to TMS. I was one of those Type T's who tried seemingly everything and just did not get better. I'm here because Alan gave me my life back, so clearly I'm in the 20% and not the 80% majority.

It's been said, and I agree with Forest's advice, but I would just like to re-iterate: Beware of falling into the TMS quicksand during your recovery. The more you work towards an outcome, sometimes, the farther away you end up pushing it.

It's Perfectionism and Striving 101.

Cheers.

 

Oh man, this is a great thread. Thanks for starting this.... just catching up now!

 

Ann Miller had more energy than most ten other dancers,
and she rose from minor movies at minor studios to the top of the ladder at MGM.
She was a queen of perseverance.

 

Forest: "Back when I was first learning about TMS, what I will call the "reading and rereading approach" was very prominent within the online TMS community, much more prominent than it is today. I think that this approach needs to come back because it works very well for a lot of people (though everyone is different of course). Dr. Sarno describes how knowledge is the penicillin for TMS: "The most important factor in recovery is that the person must be made aware of what is going on; in other words, that the information provided is the “penicillin” for this disorder" (p. 71 in Healing Back Pain)."

I've been studying TMS for about 16 months now, and I continue to be confused about what constitutes effective treatment. Maybe this is partly due to the fact that while I have eliminated my TMS pain syndromes, I am still dealing with TMS equivalents, and therefore, not completely recovered. I'm intrigued by the idea of recovery occurring through the "reading and rereading approach" discussed by Forest above. I don't like digging up the past and attempting to process the emotional content I uncover, so I would be happy to jettison this approach.

Forest:
Dr. Sarno described the process that he used at the Rusk Institute in all of his books. In the Divided Mind, in the treatment program section, he wrote the following:

1. If you have not already done so, read the entire book you are using a bit at a time (Healing Back Pain or The Mind-body Prescription). After that, read the psychology or treatment chapter every day. Pay close attention to what you read, especially when you see things that remind you of yourself.
2. Set aside time every day, possibly fifteen minutes in the morning and thirty minutes in the evening, to review the material I am about to suggest.
3. Unconscious painful and threatening feelings are what necessitates the pain. They are inside you; you don’t feel them.
4. Make a list of all the things that may be contributing to those feelings.
5. Write an essay, the longer the better, about each item on your list. This will force you to focus in depth on the emotional things of importance in your life.

(p. 142-143 in The Divided Mind. Some text boldfaced by me for emphasis.)

It seems to me that the treatment process from the Divided Mind involves more than "reading and re-reading". Numbers 4 and 5 (which Sarno elaborates on in some detail in the book) sound a lot like journaling to me. They appear to facilitate the process of "thinking psychologically", which I believe is the intent of most forms of journaling.

Forest: "Note that this is how Steve Ozanich healed and how I healed. It took a huge amount of persistence, but it got the job done. We did not do deep psychological work as part of our cure. If this surprises you, remember that 80% of Dr. Sarno's success stories did not do this sort of work as well."

I think it's easy for people to interpret this 80% figure as being 80% of all people with TMS. It's important to keep in mind that Sarno screened people who sought his help, and only accepted those who were "a good candidate for the program" (the Divided Mind). Sarno states "There is no doubt that this practice has been a factor in our statistically successful program".

Sarno discusses three categories of people who recover from TMS in the Divided Mind: "How does one explain that some people are "cured" simply by reading one of my books, that some need to see the doctor and go through a formal program, and others additionally need psychotherapy?" I believe the 80% figure applies to the screened patients that "see the doctor and go through a formal program", rather than those who are "cured" by simply reading books. I wish someone would do research on those people who recover by reading only--what percentage of people with TMS is this and what differentiates them? Sarno states in the Divided Mind, "For patients with mild symptoms, the mere knowledge that the symptoms are psychosomatic, without further psychological insight, is curative in and of itself and undoubtedly explains many of the book "cures". "

Forest makes the argument that more people may benefit from "knowledge therapy" if they improved the manner in which they read books and the repetition needed. I think this argument can be made regarding journaling, as well. All "journaling" is not created equal, as all "reading" is not created equal. While there may be some therapeutic value in pouring out one's thoughts and emotions onto the written page, in order for journaling to be effective in healing TMS it must go deep enough to uncover patterns of emotions, thoughts, and behavior that are connected to one's TMS symptoms.

I think there is an element of semantics in this debate over how much psychological insight is needed to recover from TMS. I believe we can all agree that recovery involves a certain degree of "thinking psychologically". Some people may be able to accomplish this in their heads in a more organic, less linear manner. While some of us need to write things on paper, and more literally "connect the dots" for us to see the psychological connections that have led to our TMS. Some people may require the relationship and feedback of a trained therapist to begin to "think psychologically". Perhaps is comes down to learning styles.

As individuals with TMS who are desperate to recover and reclaim our lives, we don't have the luxury of approaching our TMS treatment as a research project. When I learned about TMS and TMS healing techniques I used the "scattershot approach"-I tried everything I could all at once. As a result, I am uncertain which of the myriad techniques I've used have been essential in getting me this far along the road of recovery. Could I have eliminated everything but the "knowledge therapy" described in Healing Back Pain? If I read and re-read my Sarno and other TMS books will this be sufficient to carry me all the way to recovery? I feel the other techniques contained in Alan Gordon's Recovery Program (especially mindfulness and addressing conditioning) have been beneficial to me personally and have improved the quality of my life. But what role they play in my recovery from TMS is unclear.

Clearly, we need more research to be done so we do understand what the essential elements of TMS healing are for each category of TMS sufferers. In the meantime, we need to keep debating the topic on Forums like this, keep reading books on TMS, and keep recommending to others what we feel has helped us on our healing journeys.​

 

Excellent post Ellen, I think people should definitely start looking at these questions.

 

Movie stars are just people, like us. They may even have more TMS than we do,
because they have bigger egos and wants to be loved more by everyone.

 

Forest, these are all very useful and helpful thoughts commenting on Ellen's terrific post.

I agree that some symptoms such as headaches, anxiety, and pain don't necessarily come from repressed emotions
or our perfectionist or goodist personality. They can come from just every living in this world that has become so
fast-paced and full of events in our lives, our country, and in the world that can take the joy out of life.
We need to counter those events with positive thinking and not internalize things we can't do anything about anyway.

I've begun combining meditation with saying the Rosary every day. Christians have found peace and joy in saying
the Rosary for thousands of years. Combined with meditating on the journey of Jesus is, I am finding, very calming.
I began this about two weeks ago and asked Mary for a favor and after only a week, she gave me what I prayed for.

The other night I watched a tv program in which a former Protestant explained how and why he converted to become
a Catholic and he gave two examples of how Mary gave him favors he prayed for.

I'm not suggesting everyone become a Christian or a Catholic, just that praying to a higher being of any religion can
be combined with meditation to help with any TMS symptom or any need.