I went for a short mountain bike ride with my wife today. Long bikes rides, with lots of climbing have been a trigger for me in the past, producing left shoulder pain. With the ride today, there was climbing, but I would not describe this as a challenging ride. I started to get in my head a bit, starting to WORRY about pain starting, and then I could just start to feel the slightest bit of shoulder pain. I began talking to myself- "this is psychological, not physical. This is not a real injury, there is nothing wrong with my shoulder." It went away. If felt like a success.
I need to go for another jog, maybe tomorrow morning or evening. That has been a trigger, and major source of fear, with severe left knee pain. I am going to try again, and continue the self talk. I think I will focus on positive self talk before I start feeling any symptoms, and think about what I could be doing in the future if I was able to run as much as I'd like. I have fantasized about doing a race nearby that combines trail running and fly fishing.
I was a psychology major in undergrad. I have learned about Pavlov's dogs many, many times over the past 20 years, but connecting the salivation as a symptom to the trigger of the bell with TMS symptoms from emotional triggers was a bit of a lightbulb moment!
The first week or so of the program I did share about TMS with a few of my employees and some friends. I felt a bit sheepish, and that was mostly because I was not 100% convinced. I did mention this in a previous forum post. There is a part of me that feels like it isn't worth it trying to educate others about it, but I can sense that I am more confident about it, and would be able to talk more freely about it.
I still feel like this is a very personal form of treatment- all of the journaling, and introspection, and there is a part of me that is happy to just keep it all to myself, and wife.
A friend was a good listener to me briefly describing it, and mentioned that every year right before she starts teaching again, she has some pain. She was on board with the emotional stress/physical pain explanation, and that was helpful.
I need to go for another jog, maybe tomorrow morning or evening. That has been a trigger, and major source of fear, with severe left knee pain. I am going to try again, and continue the self talk. I think I will focus on positive self talk before I start feeling any symptoms, and think about what I could be doing in the future if I was able to run as much as I'd like. I have fantasized about doing a race nearby that combines trail running and fly fishing.
I was a psychology major in undergrad. I have learned about Pavlov's dogs many, many times over the past 20 years, but connecting the salivation as a symptom to the trigger of the bell with TMS symptoms from emotional triggers was a bit of a lightbulb moment!
The first week or so of the program I did share about TMS with a few of my employees and some friends. I felt a bit sheepish, and that was mostly because I was not 100% convinced. I did mention this in a previous forum post. There is a part of me that feels like it isn't worth it trying to educate others about it, but I can sense that I am more confident about it, and would be able to talk more freely about it.
I still feel like this is a very personal form of treatment- all of the journaling, and introspection, and there is a part of me that is happy to just keep it all to myself, and wife.
A friend was a good listener to me briefly describing it, and mentioned that every year right before she starts teaching again, she has some pain. She was on board with the emotional stress/physical pain explanation, and that was helpful.
