Deconditioning my mind from light sensitivity

[Pingman]

All -

I am 100% in that I have TMS. Since acepting TMS at 100% I have seen my sciatica heal up, I have been able to reverse a short spell of acute anxiety and panic attacks. I have been able to get the irrational thoughts that my head pressure and perceived light sensitivity are not something sinister like MS or a tumor etc...

What is keeping this thing lingering is that I still have sensitivity in my eyes. This is most likely due to me symptom checking. I think my definition of light sensitivity is off. I think when people say they are light sensitive that light really hurts their eyes. For me it bothers them but it doesn't make me stop doing anything. I then start to anlyze if they are blurry etc...

I think that over the past 3 months I have simply conditioned my mind to think I have light sensitivity when I really don't. I ahve had 3 eye exams and all Drs say my eyes are 20/20 and very healthy.

So I need some suggestions on how to decondition my mind to this. With my leg it was easier...I simply pushed myself to run everyday until my mind realized my sciatica was a fake.

Sometimes I wonder if I am not suffering from simple eye strain. I work on a computer 8 hours a day, then watch TV all night since its winter.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Ellen]

Hi Pingman,

I'm dealing with the same issue right now--trying to decondition myself from my trigger, which is a significant change in the barometric pressure. I've been doing some research on conditioning and found the following by Dr. Schubiner on his blog that I find helpful:

"Once you have recognized your triggers, you can start to reverse them; this is known as ‘extinction’ in the psychological literature.There are several methods to overcome triggers.A common response to triggers is to avoid them.People learn to avoid the movements or foods or people or events.However, that is exactly the wrong thing to do.When you avoid the triggers, you actually give them more power over you.What you really need to do is to overcome them.You need to retrain your brain to avoid developing the MBS symptoms when you encounter the triggers.The way to do that is to be brave and to look forward to encountering the triggers bit by bit and to learn techniques for stopping the nerve pathways that get triggered.The techniques to use are self-talk, breathing and other meditation techniques, therapeutic writing, psychotherapy and a variety of other psychological techniques, such as EMDR.The self-talk or affirmations are very powerful and should be done continually whenever you find yourself encountering a trigger.These are detailed in my educational program as are the therapeutic writing techniques.You can also find some of these techniques in books by Dr. John Sarno, Dr. David Clarke, Dr. Ronald Siegel and others.I also teach mindfulness techniques to deal with triggers.These are also detailed in the program, and have to do with learning to be alert, focused, and relaxed while encountering stressful situations."

I've been waiting till I have pain from the trigger to start using the techniques listed above. I think now I will do them when the weather forecast says a weather change is coming--before it comes. So maybe this would work for you with your light sensitivity trigger. Before you leave for the day or get on your computer, start talking to your brain about how the light is harmless, etc.

Wishing you success....

 

[Pingman]

Hi Pingman,

I'm dealing with the same issue right now--trying to decondition myself from my trigger, which is a significant change in the barometric pressure. I've been doing some research on conditioning and found the following by Dr. Schubiner on his blog that I find helpful:

"Once you have recognized your triggers, you can start to reverse them; this is known as ‘extinction’ in the psychological literature.There are several methods to overcome triggers.A common response to triggers is to avoid them.People learn to avoid the movements or foods or people or events.However, that is exactly the wrong thing to do.When you avoid the triggers, you actually give them more power over you.What you really need to do is to overcome them.You need to retrain your brain to avoid developing the MBS symptoms when you encounter the triggers.The way to do that is to be brave and to look forward to encountering the triggers bit by bit and to learn techniques for stopping the nerve pathways that get triggered.The techniques to use are self-talk, breathing and other meditation techniques, therapeutic writing, psychotherapy and a variety of other psychological techniques, such as EMDR.The self-talk or affirmations are very powerful and should be done continually whenever you find yourself encountering a trigger.These are detailed in my educational program as are the therapeutic writing techniques.You can also find some of these techniques in books by Dr. John Sarno, Dr. David Clarke, Dr. Ronald Siegel and others.I also teach mindfulness techniques to deal with triggers.These are also detailed in the program, and have to do with learning to be alert, focused, and relaxed while encountering stressful situations."

I've been waiting till I have pain from the trigger to start using the techniques listed above. I think now I will do them when the weather forecast says a weather change is coming--before it comes. So maybe this would work for you with your light sensitivity trigger. Before you leave for the day or get on your computer, start talking to your brain about how the light is harmless, etc.

Wishing you success....

Ellen - funny your trigger is barometric pressure, I feel like I have talked to ten people this winter who are just miserable with sinus pressure related issues due to the constant weather changes we are facing in the Midwest. My wife and I have been stuffy all winter it seems. He coworker was just saying how she wishes she could peel back ger face to relieve the pressure. It seems like each time a snow storm rolls in people start dropping like flies at work with sinus issues.

I think barometric pressure and sinuses might be aiding in my TMS to some degree. Their symptoms mimic my perceived light sensitivity issue...could be I just have simple sinus issues causing my eyes to ache and be tired. It doesn't help that I program on a computer for 8 hours a day.

The extinction method is kind of what I have been trying to do on my own. It is a nice sunny day here in Indiana so I went for a jog at lunch with my sunglasses on. During my jog I felt completely normal. Like my old self again. I kept telling myself that I can't have light sensitivity, even with glasses on the sun light was shining bright on me and didn't cause me any ill pain. So I got home and took off my shades and did the jump rope outside. It was bright so I squinted but nothing out of the norm.

I came inside and the change between inside and outside light through me off and right away I started checking my sight....so I told myself "When would you have ever just checked your eyes 3 months ago before TMS?"

It just like Insomnia....I freaked out when I wasn't sleeping but my wife, dad, inlaws, coworkers all have issues sleeping and they just deal with it. With my eyes, my dad and wife have both complained about their eyes being sore from sinus pressure this week but they just take some medicine and relax and after a few days it goes away.

I am really starting to take notes from others around me on how they handle things.