Pain/Symptoms have decreased, but fearful thinking has increased....

[AlexandraJ99]

Hi all,

I have been on the TMS bus for several years now and finally succumbed to working with a TMS therapist 6/8 weeks ago after avoiding for so long wanting to deal with some of the BIG feelings I've been avoiding. I have been uncovering issues from a traumatic childhood and its been very uncomfortable but I have been powering through and staying the course, just processing and crying.

The main symptoms I had when starting to work with her have actually largely gone away, and some new ones have popped up, and even some old ones that had been long gone have come back. It is actually laughable how obviously TMS they are and as a result it's been surprisingly easy for me to ignore and not fear the new symptoms.

What has caught me off guard however is what I feel like is an increase in fearful thinking/rumination. Now that my symptoms for the most part have been slowly fading, I am finding myself scared in situations that I previously wouldn't have been scared of before, this has actually scared me. For example, I am suddenly finding myself a bit fearful in social settings which is TOTALLY UNLIKE ME. I don't understand what my brain is doing. Is this increase in fear itself a symptom of TMS? Is this a symptom imperative? Is my brain generating random fear in order to keep distracting me from feeling my feelings? Help!

 

[TG957]

It is absolutely normal and common to see increase in anxiety or depression as your symptoms improve. You are now staring at what caused your pain in the first place, repression of emotions. You need to learn how to handle your emotions no matter how unruly they seem to be. It is hard but doable.

 

[AlexandraJ99]

It is absolutely normal and common to see increase in anxiety or depression as your symptoms improve. You are now staring at what caused your pain in the first place, repression of emotions. You need to learn how to handle your emotions no matter how unruly they seem to be. It is hard but doable.

Yes I definitely get the impression that is happening. I am weirdly proud of myself to be able to now identity some feelings that I didn’t realize I was having before.

Some of this feels like misplaced fear though. Like my brain is searching desperately for something to be afraid of and then I can catch myself in a negative thought spiral and can for the most part snap myself out of it. That’s the part I am hoping will go away becuse for me those don’t feel like “real” feelings.

 

[TG957]

Yes I definitely get the impression that is happening. I am weirdly proud of myself to be able to now identity some feelings that I didn’t realize I was having before.

Some of this feels like misplaced fear though. Like my brain is searching desperately for something to be afraid of and then I can catch myself in a negative thought spiral and can for the most part snap myself out of it. That’s the part I am hoping will go away becuse for me those don’t feel like “real” feelings.

Catastrophizing is a common trait among the TMSers. We overhype dangers. Have that in mind.

 

[JanAtheCPA]

Is this increase in fear itself a symptom of TMS? Is this a symptom imperative?

Yes, and Yes... of course!

This is your TMS brain mechanism still trying to do its job. You must always keep in mind that this is a very primitive mechanism, designed for a very primitive world. It is completely unable to react appropriately to the stresses of our modern world. It continues to try different methods to distract you from examining your "dangerous" negative emotions because it literally does not know any better!

Your job is to be the rational adult in the room, and to calm down your poor brain, which is just trying to protect you from physical dangers (like saber-tooth tigers) which simply do not exist anymore.