Perhaps the Pope experiencing some TMS?

I was just watching TV coverage of the Papal visit and the news anchors were commenting on his lower back pain/ sciatica. You could see him having a hard time getting down the steps of the Pope mobile. Think about what this guy probably has on his mind... Not to mention being a target of many haters.

This is quite an epic visit.

No human being is immune from the power of the mind, no matter how godly.

 

Wouldn't it be great if someone introduced him to the work of Dr Sarno.

 

So many would benefit from knowledge of Sarno's work. However, I think that TMS proliferates best on those who are prone to obsessing over concerns in life. If you don't worry much about your pain or discomfort in general (the opposite of googling all your symptoms, etc.), TMS does not tend to come on as significantly or for as long of a duration. I don't think that the Pope would be a particularly bad case of TMS. I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of his pain subsided after returning to the vatican

 

I think Googling comes with fear of not knowing. Rather than accept it's mind body, we buy into trying to find something wrong.

 

Interesting comment, TD. That was certainly true for me for many years. I was 18 when our family doctor told me that there didn't seem to be anything wrong with me other than anxiety. That symptom (digestive) went away immediately upon hearing his diagnosis. Smart doc, back in 1969. Then another symptom would come along, perhaps building up to the point where I was concerned enough to go to a doctor, who would inevitably tell me that there wasn't anything wrong, but that I would benefit from stress reduction. And that symptom would disappear. I don't even know how many times this happened. All I know is that I did NOT want them to find anything wrong. I believed in the mind-body connection, but I didn't know how what I could do about it. I suppose I could have gone on like that forever, except that the untreated and unresolved anxiety was taking its toll. At age 60 I was in bad shape, with multiple symptoms, severe anxiety, and incipient depression. I stumbled on The Divided Mind just in time, and Dr. Sarno put it all together for me.

 

TD - I was going to post about this as well. You beat me to it!

If anyone has a "goodist" personality, it's the Pope.

 

This Pope is amazing. I can't imagine how he does so much on this visit. I hope that when he returns to the Vatican
he will take some time to rest. His visit has been so wonderful for so many people, me included. I feel that my faith in God and life has increased a lot.

I liked what I heard at Mass today. Not from the Pope, but from a priest quoting the Bible: "Keep a sense of humor, even in the most difficult times."

Humor, laughing, really lightens our load, and I remind myself that we all have a load (remember the spiritual song? "All God's children got troubles."