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I feel awful after expressive writing

Mani

Mani

Well known member
Yesterday after doing this writing session, i couldnt sleep at all. I wasnt even thinking about negative things but i just felt so stressed. At first i didnt really feel the stress but after a while i started noticing that i was not feeling great. Does anyone relate? What does this tell me and what should i do?
 
Sorry you feel bad, @Mani! It means you’re doing it right. This is what happens when you start digging around. It’s like therapy. It stirs stuff up to the conscious level. Stuff your TMS brain thinks is dangerous. Sometimes (usually) it’s hard. These are not easy feelings. It makes some people want to quit. But keep going! You are teaching your TMS brain that these feelings are sustainable. They won’t kill you. It doesn’t have to create symptoms to distract you from your feelings anymore. You are facing them. (This was what Sarno meant by “think psychological, not physical.”)

I think everybody has to find the right amount of journaling—-and the right way for them so they can sustain doing it. For me, angry journaling (aka Nichole Sachs style) got me too riled up. I had to switch to a gentle way of just writing anything that came to my mind, but not really lingering too hard on the angry things. Every once in a while, I do a good angry journal, but not too often. In the beginning, it would really aggravate me a lot to journal it all, and I would have to take breaks— Sometimes for days at a time.
 
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Have you tried meditation after a journal session? That's what I do if I have a particularly hard journaling session. That does help quiet the mind and help it switch gears from your journaling session. There is a lot of good ones on youtube. There are also apps you can download and try some for free.
 
Yep, doing "the work" effectively is hard work, AND it will make you uncomfortable. Don't push yourself too hard, take a break, give yourself credit for being willing to do this - and then go back and keep going. Any type of meditation or mindfulness or breathing will help, although most of us also have to keep practicing that, because our brains don't want to calm down!

Nicole Sachs reminds us to always have patience and kindness for ourselves.
 
JanAtheCPA said:
Yep, doing "the work" effectively is hard work, AND it will make you uncomfortable. Don't push yourself too hard, take a break, give yourself credit for being willing to do this - and then go back and keep going. Any type of meditation or mindfulness or breathing will help, although most of us also have to keep practicing that, because our brains don't want to calm down!

Nicole Sachs reminds us to always have patience and kindness for ourselves.
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Hey,

I think we just got off on the wrong foot and misunderstood each other in the beginning. I really appreciate that you didnt turn sour towards me. This is all incredibly helpful.

My OCD (TMS) cant help but ask:

I have done like 10 EMDR sessions and i felt terrible until daaays after, every single time. It never really got my symptoms down though. Is that usual? What part of TMS therapy was i missing that made it so i wouldnt improve at the time?
 
I don't do too well with it either but I swore I would finish the SEP this time after a couple of false starts. For me it's more that I just keep repeating myself.

I think if it strikes a chord you're on the right path. You can do this! Just give yourself space and grace.

ETA - That's not to say I don't take breaks. Taking one tonight actually.
 
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Mani said:
. I really appreciate that you didnt turn sour towards me.
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You're okay @Mani! I don't take things personally because I am so aware that people come here who are really suffering. I was actually quite impressed at how quickly you turned it around instead of wallowing in victimhood. I'm also taking our age difference into account, which is pretty significant :cool:

However I know almost nothing about EMDR - maybe @Cactusflower has some insight to offer. I could venture a guess that one answer might be: "don't overthink it, accept what works and move on".
 
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