Distracting/occupying the mind removes the pain

Long story short a year and a half ago I got extremely sore hands, followed by arms, followed by shoulders when using a computer. I stopped using the computer for an entire year all together then used it very rarely after that for the next few months. Now... I am 60% recovered all thanks to an experiment I have been performing that's heavily based on the theory of TMS!

Before I got "RSI" computers and games were my life. I loved playing games and making programs and games. I loved following the releases of new operating systems since it was like upgrading my house to me. But then one day in my year 11 software development class I had a lesson on ergonomics and RSI then boom, 1-2 months later I got infected with it.

So I couldn't get my daily dose of computer games what was I supposed to do to? The only thing I could... Watch lets plays. A lets play is a person filming themselves playing a game while commentating it. So after months of watching lets plays I got more and more angry that I couldn't play games myself. I got busy instead with writting a book with speak recognition about lucid dreaming and astral projection. It took over my life until I got back to computers. Here it is: http://forum.obe4u.com/index.php?topic=842.0

Anyway now for the experiment I created. My phycholigist said that if I didn't start using the computer again I would have chronic RSI for the rest of my life since my hands would deteriorate without use. Playing computer games seemed so useless to my at the time (late August 2012) however so I didn't know what to do. Then I got an idea... What if I do a lets play?

TMS and the pain is caused by fear of the pain and thinking about it right? So how about focusing the mind on something else entirely? So I did... I recorded my first epsiode of my first lets play and uploaded it to youtube. I set a timer and kept the video shorter than 15 minutes due to not being able to upload a video more than 15 minutes long. I had no pain! Here's the video I uploaded for those interested

So it was time for episode 2 yet this time I didn't set a timer because youtube allowed me to upload videos of unlimited length. I still thought "I will only film for 15 minutes so I dont make my RSI worse". So here I am, immersing myself in another world commentating my actions then end the video after what I though was 15 minutes. I was way off an ended up recording for 28 minutes. Then I record another the next day... 34 minutes and still no pain.

Commentating was working really well for me and the few people who watched my videos seemed to really like them so I was encouraged to make more. These days my videos average an hour long each and I get NO PAIN! Infact just the other day I recorded 2 episodes in a row totaling an 1 hour and 55 minutes. I got absolutely no pain! Once again for those interested here are the two epsiodes I recorded one after another with a friend:
Episode 1:
Episode 2:

Oh and recently I was a little sore after working on the computer but then wanted to record another epsiode of a lets play then boom... By the time I finished recording the lets play my RSI pain felt before playing had totally vanished. This just goes to show that is not the actual physical use of the computer that's causing the pain. It's the thoughts going through your mind as you are using it.

What does everyone else think of this? Using a computer thinking "this is unless, only damaging me" causing pain yet avoiding the thought of pain all together and immersing your mind in something else removes the pain. Has this been true for anyone else? Is this a good experiment? Can anyone else try it (if you are in a similar situation to me) and tell me if it works for you also?

 

Hi 12pa and welcome to the TMS forum!

This is pretty interesting, although as a non-gamer, it's beyond my knowledge. But I think the answer to your question is simple. The cure to recovery from TMS is understanding and accepting that your brain is in charge of your symptoms, and that you can change your brain's response to fear, stress, and anxiety. Every human being is so different, that different things work for different people. What you've created is a tool that works for you, which focuses your brain in a different and positive direction. Also, you have a wise psychologist!

If you haven't already started it, I highly recommend the Structured Educational Program on the main wiki: http://www.tmswiki.org/ppd/Structured_Educational_Program. The key to continued recovery is continued self-education.

Good luck!

Jan

 

Thanks for the reply

I'll try out the structured education program... I don't wanna be making lets plays for the rest of my life and when I am at work (childcare worker) I have to spend 30 minutes per day on the computer + 1.5 hours straight on Wednesday. I always get pain typing up reports of the children so that I will need to work on.