Day 9 How do you react when you are going into a conditioned pain response situation?

I went to the movies this evening with my wife. i've had a conditioned pain response to sitting. I'm the past After a couple minutes of sitting, I would start feeling pain. This evening, I sat through a two hour movie without getting up or moving around much. I usually will sit on one of my feet because for some reason that makes it easier to sit (it doesn't feel as painful). I Sat normally through the whole movie.

I recognized the pain when it came. I wasn't sure how I was "supposed" to react to it. I acknowledged the pain, and said to myself that it was just a symptom of my upset mind. It didn't go away, but I guess I was just distracted enough by the movie. It was painful, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

is this the right way to handle pain in a conditioned response situation?

 

Try to figure out what could be triggering the problem. Is something making you angry? Did something in the movie remind you of an emotion you have been repressing? If so, focus on the memory and FEEL the anger, or fear. I like to imagine I am "telling somebody off" , something I never do. It only takes a minute. Then go back to watching the movie or whatever. Eventually you will notice the pain will have disappeared and you did not realize it. The more you do it, the better it works.

Sometimes it also works to tell your inner self that you know what it's trying to do (distract you) and it's not going to work! When I say "tell" you can just think it or even mumble it so people don't hear you. If you are alone, just say it aloud.

 

It's not like it's all the sudden though - every time I sit down I get pain. So it's like I have a conditioned response for pain when I sit down. Does that make sense?

 

You might want to drop the SEP and do the Recovery Program, then return to the SEP. Here is a section on how to work with pain, with Alan, including recording.

http://www.tmswiki.org/ppd/TMS_Recovery_Program#Working_Toward_Outcome_Independence (TMS Recovery Program)

 

To answer your question about the conditioned response, it's actually the way TMS often happens.

You can also try a reward which is the weirdest thing I tried. But it worked. Say to yourself (inner self), "When I sit down, do not cause me pain. If I can sit pain free for 15 minutes I will treat you to a bowl of ice cream (or whatever you like)". Of course you can lengthen the time if it works. Be patient with all these things. It's usually a gradual improvement.

I found this technique described in The Great Pain Deception.

I did this last night with my asthma and again this morning. I'm drinking a lot of ice coffees!

 

Haha, I like this idea. I will try it

 

Thanks Andy for the link and note. I read through the article and listened to the sound clip.