doubts

[miquelb3]

one more source of pain: repressed rage/anger for the failure trying to solve my TMS/chronic pain with the "Sarno method".
Is that plausible/believable ?

 

[JanAtheCPA]

I would say that this is a reason for frustration - but frustration, along with overt anger, are shallow emotions. Rage is a core emotion that is much deeper, and it's typically repressed by our brains, as being dangerous to our ability to stay alert in a dangerous world. (That's our primitive brain's perception of a much more primitive world than we live in today!)

Repressed rage is not only deeper, it's also more simplistic, and it goes back many years, as is suggested by Dr. Sarno, via Freud.

With absolutely no knowledge of you or your issues, treat the following random thoughts as examples:
- A deeper source of rage might have to do with control. Surface manifestations of this might be: what's wrong with the program, why don't I get it, nothing ever works for me.
- Another might be isolation. Surface manifestations might be: I don't belong here, why don't I get it, I can't be a part of this community unless I have success.

Both of these examples relate to one's core sense of self-worth, based on emotional patterns laid down in childhood.

To make progress in this work, you need to access your old patterns, and find the self-love that everyone needs in order to recover. You must love yourself enough to know that you deserve to recover!

 

[sbmumford]

I would say that this is a reason for frustration - but frustration, along with overt anger, are shallow emotions. Rage is a core emotion that is much deeper, and it's typically repressed by our brains, as being dangerous to our ability to stay alert in a dangerous world. (That's our primitive brain's perception of a much more primitive world than we live in today!)

Repressed rage is not only deeper, it's also more simplistic, and it goes back many years, as is suggested by Dr. Sarno, via Freud.

With absolutely no knowledge of you or your issues, treat the following random thoughts as examples:
- A deeper source of rage might have to do with control. Surface manifestations of this might be: what's wrong with the program, why don't I get it, nothing ever works for me.
- Another might be isolation. Surface manifestations might be: I don't belong here, why don't I get it, I can't be a part of this community unless I have success.

Both of these examples relate to one's core sense of self-worth, based on emotional patterns laid down in childhood.

To make progress in this work, you need to access your old patterns, and find the self-love that everyone needs in order to recover. You must love yourself enough to know that you deserve to recover!

JanA, you bring up issues which are my stumbling blocks around TMS.
Clearly there are people who are unaware of the rage that's built up in their unconscious minds. With some of them a little therapy to unearth some of their memories and triggers is all it takes to make them pain-free, the classic TMS success story.

I've had lower back pain for 40 years; I've had therapy at various times in my life, including now, with a TMS therapist. I've been actively aware of my psychological profile/issues for many years. I know all too well when I repress/suppress emotions and reactions to things which bother me. I know why I do this. In short, I don't think there are any forgotten psychological traumas to dig out for me.

While I would say that my pain has probably decreased about 50% from the onset of my current symptoms (starting 2 1/2 months ago) since actively studying TMS, I still have enough pain to keep me from leading a normal life without painkillers.
It's mysterious to me why the pain persists, and how its intensity relates to my therapy work and understanding of the TMS process.

 

[sbmumford]

JanA, you bring up issues which are my stumbling blocks around TMS.
Clearly there are people who are unaware of the rage that's built up in their unconscious minds. With some of them a little therapy to unearth some of their memories and triggers is all it takes to make them pain-free, the classic TMS success story.

I've had lower back pain for 40 years; I've had therapy at various times in my life, including now, with a TMS therapist. I've been actively aware of my psychological profile/issues for many years. I know all too well when I repress/suppress emotions and reactions to things which bother me. I know why I do this. In short, I don't think there are any forgotten psychological traumas to dig out for me.

While I would say that my pain has probably decreased about 50% from the onset of my current symptoms (starting 2 1/2 months ago) since actively studying TMS, I still have enough pain to keep me from leading a normal life without painkillers.
It's mysterious to me why the pain persists, and how its intensity relates to my therapy work and understanding of the TMS process.

I should add that I only got immersed in Dr Sarno's theory 2 months ago. I've been reading and rereading Healing Back Pain, as well as seeing a TMS doc and a TMS therapist.

 

[JanAtheCPA]

I hear you, SB. My first reaction was, 40 years! That's a hell of a lot of conditioning, as in brain conditioning. My second reaction is that a 50% reduction in only a few months is awesome, and it shows that you are on the right track.

I believe that there comes a point when we all need to try other things in conjunction with our basic TMS knowledge. You may need to take a crack at the 40 years of pain with a program of mindfulness and reconditioning, in which you learn to hear the subtle messages of your brain, which is trying to keep you thinking negatively, always watching out for danger, and reminding you to stay alert with the pain. It will fight hard against pain reduction, because it thinks you'll be eaten by a sabre-tooth tiger if you let your guard down!

I've written many times about this, and about learning to counteract the negative messages with constructive and positive ones. It can be done, but it's surprisingly harder than it sounds.

By the way, if you haven't already done so, I recommend reading posts on our Success Stories subforum, to convince yourself that even more recovery is possible. Many people discuss their level of belief, which is another form of mindfulness.

 

[sbmumford]

I hear you, SB. My first reaction was, 40 years! That's a hell of a lot of conditioning, as in brain conditioning. My second reaction is that a 50% reduction in only a few months is awesome, and it shows that you are on the right track.

I believe that there comes a point when we all need to try other things in conjunction with our basic TMS knowledge. You may need to take a crack at the 40 years of pain with a program of mindfulness and reconditioning, in which you learn to hear the subtle messages of your brain, which is trying to keep you thinking negatively, always watching out for danger, and reminding you to stay alert with the pain. It will fight hard against pain reduction, because it thinks you'll be eaten by a sabre-tooth tiger if you let your guard down!

I've written many times about this, and about learning to counteract the negative messages with constructive and positive ones. It can be done, but it's surprisingly harder than it sounds.

By the way, if you haven't already done so, I recommend reading posts on our Success Stories subforum, to convince yourself that even more recovery is possible. Many people discuss their level of belief, which is another form of mindfulness.

Thanks, JanA. When I said 40 years I meant that I've had episodes for that long, not continuous pain. I tend to have serious episodes every 4 years, about. They start out completely debilitating, then the pain gradually subsides over 6 months or so.
I guess with Sarno I was hoping to cut that 6 months short, but the recovery seems to be about that so far, so while I strongly subscribe to Sarno's TMS idea, I can't seem to find the pathway for myself exactly.
I agree with what you said about thinking negatively. Hopefully the therapy I'm doing will help me start to identify those patterns, and head them off before pain starts.