Dear Friend Died, Faced the Emotional Pain

[KevinB]

Hello community,

I just wanted to share about my recent experience. I'm 4+ months post SEP (Structured Educational Program, located here on this site) and have been 100% since finishing it. About two weeks ago I received the call that a dear friend of 20+ years suddenly died. I flew back home to Seattle for two wakes (one private, one public... he was a popular guy), and not once did my back issues return. I have been grieving, and experiencing all sorts of emotions, but I've present and open to feeling them, which is why I believe I haven't had a pain relapse. I learned how to do these things by working the SEP, participating in this community, and being active in my recovery. I am so grateful for the ability to confront difficult emotions..... before all of this, I would have ran and hid from the pain. I can face it now. It hurts, but better now than later once it's festered and become so toxic that my body reacts.

Anyhow, I just wanted to to put that out there because it's been something like my first life "test" since I recovered. Death is part of life, and there will be more, but I'm grateful that I learned a healthy way to experience it.

That's all for now.

Kevin

 

[JanAtheCPA]

Kevin, I had the same experience, when I suffered two devastating losses in less than one month in 2012, having discovered Dr Sarno and this community and done the SEP, and mostly recovered from my symptoms the year before. The most important thing I found myself able to do was to acknowledge, experience, and accept the fact that deep down, I felt abandoned. Opening myself up to that true emotion under my devastation was incredibly powerful. And, in the end, freeing.

This is great stuff.

 

[Walt Oleksy (RIP 2021)]

Hi, KevinB. I'm going to share your wonderful post with someone else who posted today about a dear friend's death
and needs some help dealing with her emotions.