how to stop obsessing about the past & pain

Hi posting to see if anyone else has this issue. constant obsessing about the constat pain. My mind will not allow Me to accomplish anything cant stay focused is this part of the long Jorney I am unable to work due to the pain. I am even unable to accomplish small task is this the clincial depression or pain please advise thanks

 

Winterhaven123, that sucks that you are in this place. If you haven't read Steve Ozanich's book "The Great Pain Deception", you should. It might help you make sense of your situation.

Cee

 

Hi I have read his book also 2 of Sarno's I am a wating Scott Bradys book now i am on the 2nd time around with the SEP program My biggest problem is the obessive thoughts they start the minute i awake & continue all day. My only relief is sleep I sleep fine with no pain. I cant make any sence of it why it would contiue all day until i lye down

 

Hi Winterhaven,

You probably already ran into the "mindfulness" approach and practice in the SEP. I don't know how much you are practicing this, the ability to observe and witness what is occurring, but increasing certain types of meditation may help. That is, it may help you observe --but not get caught in-- the pain-thinking-fearing quite so much.

You might also connect with a psychotherapist if you have not yet, to address progress in your Sarno work, and also in your possible depression. I hope you do consider help, given what you describe. I have gotten a lot of help over the years, and it is always worth it!! Good luck.

Andy B.

 

The best way I have had with not obsessing about pain or it's causes is in distracting my mind onto pleasant thoughts or
doing things that I enjoy. I don't think it's a good idea to rely too much on sleep, especially if you nap or sleep during the day.
Our systems can get thrown off balance and then we might not be able to sleep well overnight.

Reading Steve Ozanich's book is a very good idea. He went through mental and physical hell before he healed,
from total belief in TMS and playing golf despite his pain. I guess it's giving "tough love" to yourself.

It's also important not to catastrophize that the pain is going to get worse or last forever.

 

Hi thank you for reply I am on my 2nd time around on the SEP I try minfulness & meditation I am unsure of the correct approch. i cant concentrate sitting so the only way i can is lying down i cant understand how i have no pain lying down as soon as i am on my feet the pain started in my upper abdominal 4 1/2 years ago & spread troughout my entire ribcage upper & lower back. it feels like my entire nervous system is in pain it's eveywhere. I take Tramadol & a hih dose of gabapentin. which help for a short amount of time My pain is unexplainable rare I live in central Florida The pill mill capital of the world & it's nearly impossible to get any help when nothing shows Pain management Dr wont even see me because all My Mri CT scans bone scans & more are all negative no finding of anything. It all come on 1 day 4 1/2 years ago & never left only progressed. I think about & monitor it all day I have high anxiety & clinical depression My nervous system will not calm or allow Me to accomplish the smallest task i suffer constantly I am in deep need of help thanks judy

 

You might seek working with a trained Somatic Experiencing psychotherapist. There are some trained who also know the Sarno work. The Somatic Experiencing approach is used to "regulate the nervous system." I am working with this training now, and I find it wonderful. I am learning to be more aware of how I set myself off, and become "disregulated." Your situation is probably different, but I highly recommend this approach.

Here is a well known psychologist who worked with Dr. Sarno for decades, who is also trained in Somatic Experiencing. She might recommend someone, if she can't help you. I also have a contact that might work on the phone with you, but he is not trained in Dr. Sarno's approach, and I don't know if he does phone sessions.

Good luck in finding some relief in your life. It sounds like you are going through Hell on a number of different levels.

Andy B.

Frances Sommer Anderson, PhD (Therapist)

Dr. Anderson is a licensed psychologist and holds a Certificate of Specialization in Psychoanalysis from the New York University Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. She has expertise in treating people with medical illness, physical disability, and trauma. Since 1979, she has specialized in treating back pain and other stress-related physical symptoms, using an approach that integrates contemporary psychoanalytic theory, research in the neuroscience of emotional and cognitive processing, and the neurobiology of attachment, pain and trauma. She is co-author of Pathways to Pain Relief, a book about how to recover from TMS. Dr. Anderson was a speaker at the 2nd Annual TMS Conference in March 2010. (Source)

Available via Skype and FaceTime
140 East 40th Street #12A
New York, NY 10016
(212) 661-7588
fanderson@pathwaystopainrelief.com
Website / Curriculum Vitae
Main Wiki Page About Frances Sommer Anderson
Board Member of the Psychophysiologic Disorders Association (PPDA)

 

ok thank you very much