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To answer your first question, yes. Anything that can be a source of preoccupation is a symptom imperative.

I'm not going to answer your second question. You know why? Because the way to get better from TMS is to work on teaching the primitive brain that it's safe. When you ask me a question, the question itself doesn't matter so much, you're asking me to make your primitive brain feel safe. That doesn't help you, and the answer itself only provides brief relief until some new fear grips you.

The best way you can help yourself is when you have a new fear thought come up (any of the previous questions you asked me), your fear brain says, "Uh oh... I need to find out the answer to this or else!!!" And you anxiously try to get an answer from me or someone else on the forum.

Instead, when you hear that fear thought come up, and the subsequent, "Oh oh...I need to find out the answer to this or else!!! That's a great opportunity for you to intervene on your own behalf, calm yourself down, and say, "It's okay, you don't need to find out the answer to that question to get better. It's okay, you're safe, that silly question is just a vessel of fear.

I mean it, this exercise over and over is the true way to work toward healing the primitive brain.

Alan

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