The Great Pain Deception

From The TMS Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
The cover of The Great Pain Deception

By Steven Ray Ozanich

About The Great Pain Deception

Published in 2011, The Great Pain Deception is a 378-page book on TMS healing written by Steven Ray Ozanich. In the discussion thread “TMS The Man Sarno” Steve Ozanich provides an overview of the book:

I recently published a book on TMS called The Great Pain Deception: Faulty Medical Advice Is Making Us Worse. It is a detailed look at TMS, and the reasons for rejection of TMS that took me 10 years to research and write. I was mentored along the way by the good doctor’s close friend, Marc Sopher, MD.—an excellent TMS physician and great person that I’m honored to call friend. The first third of my book is about my own story/struggle and ultimate victory over suffering using Dr. Sarno’s work as my guide. The middle third is what people need to understand to heal using a wide variety of real life healing examples, and the last part of the book is about life, and childhood, and all those incremental steps that form our personalities that can lead us into the TMS-abyss. The Great Pain Deception shows the many bumpy roads into TMS, and the many roads out. It has been reviewed and endorsed by MDs, Sarno, Sopher, Northrup, Pelletier, Travis, Anderson, and Miller.

The entire thread is a great introduction to the book. To read it, click the following link: TMS The Man Sarno.

Introductory Video

Reviews on the Peer Network's Discussion Forum

Read the extensive review of The Great Pain Deception on the Peer Network's discussion forum in this thread.

Wiki Member Reviews

Speedypeaks wrote,

I am on the last few pages of this book. I have been reading it everyday with great enthusiasm. At first I was a little concerned that it was going to be just a rant on the medical field, but that quickly changed.

Mr Ozanich outlined his personal experiences which were very tragic. His explanation of the process by which TMS took over his life was very similar to mine (being let down by doctors). While he discussed this in great detail, in my opinion he has also become very knowledgeable about TMS and how it works. It was nice to hear another viewpoint which is very consistent with Dr. Sarno and Dr. Sopher.

The book contains some powerful phrases that really caught my attention and I would recommend it to anyone suffering from chronic pain. The day I started reading it, I got a massive migraine (typical when I commit to a TMS dicipline) which doubled in intensity and duration. My back pain (two back operations in the past) also intensified and quickly moved around and subsequently decreased in intensity. The book really confirmed to me that I have TMS problems and need to work on emotional stuff.

All in all, the book is filled with insight. I have read Amir's book and some other "sufferers" books, but none quite made a physiological difference like this one. I'd recommend it to anyone who may think they have TMS. Please feel free to ask any questions and I'll be happy to try and answer.

best-sp

Amazon Customer Reviews

Rory said:

"This book was excellent. I didn't want to put it down but it was so long I had to. I have suffered from all kinds of fibro/pain since childhood and I think I knew it was always from an emotional reaction to a troubled childhood, but when I saw the names of the famous medical doctors on the back of the book who said such nice things about it I figured I would buy it. I was happy at how well he articulated things and all the real life examples he showed. It covers just about every aspect of life and health, although he does state that we can have outside influences on our health like diet, and toxins, and accidents, etc., but he doesn't go into them much. He focuses on the main problem with our health which is from subconscious emotions. He gives a crash course on psychology at the beginning and then got into an amazing story of his health and healing after he found a book by Dr. John Sarno. But as the book progressed he expanded the problems of our health to an overzealous medical process that purposefully keeps us in fear of our daily symptoms. Not wanting to be a spoiler I will leave the rest to the readers, but it was very sad at times, and his sense of humor seems to have gotten him through it all. A great read that I know most people will relate to in some way."

For more reviews on Amazon, click here.

Professional Testimonials

  • "I recommend this book because the author, Mr. Ozanich, has lived through the experience of having unsuccessful conventional treatments for pain attributed to structural abnormalities of the spine. Once he became aware of and accepted the diagnostic premises of the Tension Myoneural Syndrome his pain resolved. His experience highlights the significance and power of knowledge in overcoming psychologically induced symptoms." John Sarno, MD, Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine, NYU School of Medicine, Author of The Divided Mind: The Epidemic of Mindbody Disorders
  • "There is great wisdom and clarity here. I highly recommend this book and its message." Christiane Northrup, MD, OB/Gyn physician and author of the New York Times bestsellers: Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom and The Wisdom of Menopause
  • "In addition to telling his compelling story, Steve has done an excellent job exploring the realm of mindbody medicine, making this an excellent resource for those who are still looking for answers." Marc Sopher, MD, Author of To Be or Not To Be...Pain-Free: The Mindbody Syndrome.
  • "A must read for pain sufferers wishing to understand that the major causes of pain are rarely physical in origin. It's a well researched, comprehensive, and true story of Steve Ozanich's fall and then rise, after finding Dr. John Sarno's brilliant work on TMS pain. This is a truly inspiring story of recovery through discovery." Kenneth R. Pelletier, PhD, MD, Clinical Professor of Medicine, Family Medicine, and Public Health, University of Arizona and UCSF Schools of Medicine, Author of New Medicine: Integrating Conventional and Alternative Medicine.
  • "It is probably only fitting that such a complete and insightful review of mind-body causes and cures of TMS and so many other mind-body ailments should come from the pen of one who has suffered enormously from them, and found the answer within. For those who wish to embark upon a journey of self-discovery and self-healing I heartily recommend considering this book as an enjoyable and stimulating launching point." Emmett Miller, MD, Author of Our Culture on the Couch: Seven Steps to Global Healing.
  • "This is the fascinating story. The author struggled against overwhelming odds for nearly 30 years with chronic pain before finally succeeding. The book recounts in great detail how, after personal tragedy and many mishaps-with both mainstream and alternative practitioners-he finally discovered, worked heroically to apply, and finally succeeded in realizing the full potential of the unique mindfulness approach of pioneering New York physiatrist John E. Sarno, MD." Scott Anderson, MD

Interview on the Janette Barber Show

In July 2012, Steve Ozanich was interviewed on Janette Barber's Sirius radio show about the book. The interview discusses a variety of topics from Steve's history with chronic pain to general thoughts about TMS and how people can recover.

Drop-In Chat

During the drop-in chats on Saturdays, several members of the Peer Network formed a loose TMS reading group. During several of these sessions attendees of the drop in chat discussed the Great Pain Deception. During the June 30th session, the author of the book, Steve Ozanich, joined the chat to discuss his book and TMS as well. In order to allow people to read and review these discussions we have put the transcripts of the chats in the following forum threads:

Call-In Discussion Group

The Peer Network's Tuesday night call-in discussion group began discussing The Great Pain Deception on January 5, 2013 along with Dr. Gabor Maté's When the Body Says No. During this time, the group covered Chapters 6 - 9.

On August 20, 2013 the discussion group began a new discussion of The Great Pain Deception , this time starting at the beginning. The group concluded their discussion on March 18, 2014, followed by a special two-hour event featuring Steve Ozanich. Steve also joined the group during their discussion of Chapter 3 (“Once Upon My Time...”) on September 3, 2013 and Chapter 14 (“What You Need to Understand to Heal”) on November 12, 2013.

Recorded Discussions

The following are recordings from the weekly discussion group's entire discussion of Steve Ozanich's The Great Pain Deception from August 20, 2013 - March 18, 2014.

August 20th: Prologue & Chapter 1
August 27th: Chapter 2 - The Mind's Eyewitness
September 3rd: Chapter 3 - Once Upon My Time... With Steve Ozanich
September 10th: Chapter 4 - Chasing the Changes: A Time for Reflection
September 17th: Chapter 5 - How I Became Pain Free
September 24th: Chapter 6 - Opposition to TMS
October 1st: Chapter 7 - Placebo Yo-Yos and Nocebo No-Nos
October 8th: Chapter 8 - Planting the Seeds, Growing the Pain—Who Is the Gardener?
October 15th: Chapter 9 - What Did You Meme by That?
October 22nd: Chapter 10 - The Symptom Imperative Phenomenon
October 29th: Chapter 11 - Timing of the Onset: Don’t Beware, Be Aware
November 5th: Chapters 12 & 13 - Symbolic Attacks & SteveO, Do I Have TMS?
November 12th: Chapter 14 - What You Need to Understand to Heal With Steve Ozanich
November 19th: Chapter 15 - Conditioning: The First Cut is the Deepest
November 26th: Chapters 16 & 17 - T-Wrecks, The Painful Personali-T & Goodist-itus—Inflammation of the Low Esteem
December 3rd: Chapters 18 & 19 - Major Personality Types & Separation and Rage
December 10th: Chapters 20 & 21 - Neurosis Affectional Needs Gone Haywire & Highly Sensitive People
December 17th: Chapters 22 & 23 - CFS: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome & Anxiety, Depression, and Metanoia
January 7th: Chapters 24 & 25 - Drugs & Passus (Latin: “having suffered”)
January 14th: Chapter 26 - Holding Onto Anger
January 21st: Chapter 27 - Physician, Heal Thyself
January 7th: Chapters 28 & 29 - Breathe In & Set Goals
February 4th: Chapters 30 & 31 - Visualize! & Communicate
February 11th: Chapters 32 & 33 - Power Therapies & Laugh Dammit!
February 18th: Chapters 34 & 35 - Giving Aid and Comfort to the Enemy & Repetition
February 25th: Chapters 36 & 37 - Trouble Healers & Is it Gone Yet?
March 11th: Chapters 38 & 39 - Letting Go & TMS Gives Hope
March 18th: Chapter 40 - Beyond TMS

Related Links

Main wiki page on Steve Ozanich
Steve Ozanich's Forum Profile
Steve Ozanich's Survey Response
Website

DISCLAIMER: The TMS Wiki is for informational and support purposes only and does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment recommendations. See Full Disclaimer.