Matthew, you are absolutely right. This is one of the best TMS recovery success stories I've read,
maybe because it comes from a medical doctor.
Lissa Rankin, MD, writes in an article for the April 16, 2013 issue of Psychology Today how she
healed from 20 years of multiple physical and emotional pains by discovering TMS.
Her symptoms probably began earlier, but she recalled that when she was 24 years old and
a medical intern in a hospital that a surgeon who was her teacher began sexually harassing her.
It left her with anger and guilt but also physical pains. A year later she was married and
uncomfortable performing her wifely duties because of residual guilt and anger from the
previous year. This led to a divorce and, and a second marriage when she was 21, to a
veterinarian. When he kissed her, she broke out in a severe case of hives (a malady known to
be caused by anxiety).
A good friend of mine was hospitalized during most of his honeymoon because of hives.
He had been so anxious about getting married. Later I learned it was because he was afraid
he might not be able to perform well enough for his bride. They survived the first honeymoon
and had a second that was much happier and remained married, having two lovely daughters.
Rankin writes that besides the hives, she developed many allergies. Medication did not help.
She had an especially traumatic year in 2006 when she gave birth to a daughter, her father
and brother both died, as well as her beloved dog, at age 16.
Her symptoms grew worse and visits to doctors and other specialists who gave her medications
did not give her relief. Desperation led her to read Louise Hay's book, You Can Heal Your Life,
and that made her consider that maybe her symptoms were not structural but she was
emotionally sick. A "pilot light" came on in her mind and she realized that she had covered herself
with "masks" that hid her real self-identity. She had a mask of being a know-it-all doctor,
a mask of a wife trying to please her husband, a mother trying to please her child.
She decided to "stop trying to please everybody and start being unapolgetically you."
She writes that in her quest for love and acceptance, she had forgotten who she was.
"You'll never be cured until you heal yourself," she advises. "Not until we realize our bodies
are mirrors of how we live our lives will we truly heal."
Dr. Rankin said her pains and allergies and all other symptoms went away when she
accepted the TMS knowledge that they were from repressed emotions and her
perfectionist and "goodism" personality. She is now healthy and happy, and we thank her
for sharing her wonderful recovery success story with us.
Now Dr. Rankin incorporates the concept of TMS into her medical practice, as more
doctors are doing every day. The words of Dr. Sarno are spreading, thanks to articles like
this one by Dr. Rankin.
Perhaps you have a TMS success story to share with us. Mine is similar to Dr. Rankin's
in that I healed from severe back pain after journaling to discover repressed emotions
from my childhood that were about rejection, abandonment, anger at my parents for
divorcing, and guilt from wondering if I caused their divorce.
Be honest with yourself, discover who you really are, says Dr. Rankin, and you too can
be healthy and happy.
