A Relevant Article

[Cog]

Hello,

I wanted to post a link to this article which seems to be very relevant to the TMS diagnosis. There's mention of back pain which lacks effective evidence based treatments and psychosomatic mass illnesses like "railway spine" which happened back in the 19th century and are like what we see today with fibromyalgia. Take a read... The interviewed doctor, Nortin M. Hadler, has written some books which might be interesting follow ups to the TMS specific books.

http://www.uncpress.unc.edu/browse/page/601

 

[veronica73]

Wow, I have never heard of "railway spine" before! It seems ridiculous now but maybe in 50 years people will be laughing at the idea of backache, migraines, RSI, etc.

 

[Forest]

He really touched upon something when he mentioned Worker's Compensation, which started the idea that back pain was an injury. In TMS/PPD our mind needs to create a symptom that we will think is real. Before Worker's Comp made payments for back pain, people did not complain of it as much. It wasn't as prevalent in society in the turn of the 20th century. Of course, as Hadler mentions, when Worker's Comp started to payout claims for back pain in the 1930s chronic pain started to spiral out of control. This is a great example of the contagion aspect to PPD and chronic pain symptoms

Hadler went on to say

The specific treatments for regional backache are called "modalities." Some are physical (manipulation, massage, acupuncture, etc), some pharmacological (all sorts of pills, poultices, and potions), and some surgical. Almost without exception, no modality is helpful. In choosing to seek care, the sufferer is engaging in a "treatment act" that teaches theories of pain and the language such theories support. The sufferer should be aware of this, be willing to learn their vocabulary.

I find this quote to be very interesting. It suggests that when we engage in the conventional medical treatment for chronic pain and other medically unexplained symptoms we are, in a way, opening ourselves up for suggestion by the physician. The treatment act opens our minds up to new theories, language and ideas about our symptoms and how we view our symptoms. This is why the MRI is so scary. It is why people can go from having no back pain, but once they get an MRI that shows a tiny abnormality, they start having severe back pain. It feeds the idea that we are somehow broken and have a physical problem. When we use the conventional chronic pain treatment language, we are reinforcing the physical causation theories in our unconscious.

This is why it is so important for TMSers to educate themselves on what is truly going on. Overcoming PPD involves changing the language that we use in regards to our symptoms. Focusing on our MRI, thinking of what some past physician said incorrectly, using physical aids such as orthopedics, massage, voice recognition software, all reinforce the structural believes in our unconscious mind. Recovery depends on changing the language we use and breaking the physical treatment act we are so accustomed to.

This is done by three key techniques:
1. Educate yourself about PPD and our repressed emotions/issues
2. Becoming active again to overcome doubts and believes that we are weak and broken.
3. Start calling our symptoms only PPD. You do not have back pain, RSI, Fibromyalgia, or migraines. You have PPD.

Change the language, Change your life

 

[veronica73]

...using physical aids such as orthopedics, massage, voice recognition software, all reinforce the structural believes in our unconscious mind.

I think that doing things that reinforce that there is something structurally wrong probably slows down recovery, however, I do think that using medication or massage or ice occasionally to treat the symptoms (not the underlying issue) is OK.

 

[Enrique]

I think that doing things that reinforce that there is something structurally wrong probably slows down recovery, however, I do think that using medication or massage or ice occasionally to treat the symptoms (not the underlying issue) is OK.

I think this is one of those fine lines. If a person takes medication or engages in a massages or applies ice and they believe that it is helping to heal them in some way, then that reinforces the belief in structural problem. But if that person does those things and believes that it's just reducing the pain sensations while they continue to do PPD type of work then it isn't hindering the process of recovery.

 

[Forest]

Enrique - This is a really great way to look at it, and something everyone should keep in mind. In the end it comes down to the each person and what sort of things keep them thinking physical. I have always liked your idea about creating a list of why it is TMS and why it is not and reminding yourself of this over and over again. One reason I like it, is that it requires us to list the reasons why we think are symptoms are physical. By identifying these things, we can, for one, begin to recognize what actions are preventing us from accepting the diagnosis, and begin to overcome this doubt.

We can also figure out if taking pain meds or applying ice keeps us thinking physical or not. I have always thought part of the recovery process is gaining introspection into what emotions we have and how we react to certain situations. Making lists, like your reasons it is or is not TMS list, can really help us gain that much needed introspection into our lives.