Maintaining hope and motivation during a (long) plateau?

My symptoms (ulnar nerve pain) started in 2019. I went through the usual process - OT, PT, various medications, all the scans they could think of, an actual surgery. There were minor changes here and there but nothing consistent, and in 2021 I hit rock bottom - the pain got so bad I couldn't use a computer at all, much less some useless things like picking up objects and putting them down elsewhere, and was afraid I'd end up without any marketable skills in my mid 20s.

This was the motivation I needed to start first an older TMS program, and then PRT. My life completely turned around, and related aspects of my mental health improved dramatically as I started some of the related practices to manage anxiety and depression. From Jun 2021 I could use my phone laying down, to Sep 2021 I could do chores, drive, and had no issues working.

However, since then I hit a plateau. I've had a few more points where the pain got as bad as those worst 6 months, and I've learned to manage the fear around that, but there was a certain sense of "fuck it, I'm throwing everything into this" that I had at the lowest points that I don't anymore, and it makes it hard to stick to anything. Once or twice a year I'll see some progress, and then seem to backslide. To be more specific (if anyone else has gone through similar cycles) - I try to do somatic tracking once every few days. Once or twice a year I'll read another TMS/PRT books. I try to do some of the 'brain training' exercises in Curable, but tend to forget about whatever I was doing after a few days.

So my questions are - what do you do during long plateaus? I'd love advice on either managing the hopelessness from having improvement stop, and on finding a different kind of resolve to do the various meditative and writing practices that constitute TMS/PRT programs.

 

If your brain is still producing TMS, then you need to keep digging into why this is the case. Why do you still need this distraction? What purpose does it serve in your life? It's great to learn techniques to manage the fear around symptoms, but the critical work is getting to the reason your brain is still producing symptoms. What are you repressing and why?

Plateaus are common in TMS work and I know they can be frustrating. There are so many TMS resources available now that my advice is to try one you haven't used before. It just may resonate and motivate you to move forward. Read Success Stories and see what other people have found helpful and try those resources. Keep at it. You've experienced some success and there is no reason why you can't be entirely symptom free.