Day 1

[ciciho]

Day 1

hi everyone, I have 99 percent accepted this diagnosis. My pain moves around a lot between both knees, I sometimes have pain in the front of my feet. Now looking back on some “injuries” I have had in the past it is very clear that they are tied to stress. Now I can see that they were just TMS attacks. I know that I have always had the ability to create bodily symptoms based on suggestion or someone having a cold around me. Right now I have had “chronic “ back pain for a year, and I realize that my brain has learned this reaction and that I can unlearn it. I realize I am obsessed with my pain and interact/ access it everyday. When my back pain started I had just suffered two concussions in a row and was having a hard time recovering due to anxiety; I was forcing myself to lose weight so I could look like my pre-concussion self.

I think my only doubts come from the fact that I don’t have anyone to diagnose me and the only therapy I could receive would be on Skype, I think it’s hard for me to fully accept this until I hear a doctor/psyhologist say it.

Also I have sooo many questions about conditioned responses, and like why I wake up in the morning with pain right away ( badly wired brain right?)

 

[JanAtheCPA]

Hi ciciho, and welcome.

I was able to reach 100% acceptance as soon as I read The Divided Mind back in 2011, and at that time, about 75% of my symptoms at that time disappeared virtually overnight. Other symptoms were harder to banish, and I still struggle with some that come and go even after seven years. On my profile, I have a list of the books and resources that helped me the most, and of course doing the SEP was a big part of my recovery process. But I never had a diagnosis other than my own self-diagnosis. I never had a moment's doubt that I was suffering from TMS - and the knowledge made me want to shout "Hallelujah" from my roof!

The way I see it, you have a choice:

1. If you need a diagnosis from a professional, make the Skype appointment with someone from the Pain Psychology Center (Alan Gordon's program) or wherever else you've found a referral. Don't wallow around being indecisive.

OR...

2. Understand that your primitive fearful brain will do its best to keep you tied to negative thinking, and it will continue to sow the seeds of doubt so that you do NOT recover. Your primitive fearful brain needs to you remain in fear, because it believes that if you aren't fearful, that you will be eaten by a sabre-tooth tiger. One of the best resources I used to understand this is on my list - it's called "Meditations to Change Your Brain" (it's mostly lecture to start with).

Once you understand and accept this, and learn how to fight back against the negative messages, you can achieve 100% acceptance on your own.

Good luck,

~Jan