Practical repression

[RuthAnn]

Here's a situation that came up yesterday. I was faced with a very stressful chsllenge yesterday and I knew that I had to be on my game to safely complete the task. I knew I was very stressed and anxious, and that if I let myself feel it, I would not be in any condition mentally or physically to succeed (this was not just a perfectionistic goal, lives were in the balance). So I acknowledged to myself that there was a lot of stress, etc but I "put it over there" for the duration and did my best (things went well). My question is what now? I don't feel stressed or anything because it's over, and I had no significant flare up of symptoms, so...do I just let it all go and get on to things or is that repressed stress going to be an issue?
I hope this makes sense, thanks!

 

[arghmakeitstop]

Here's a situation that came up yesterday. I was faced with a very stressful chsllenge yesterday and I knew that I had to be on my game to safely complete the task. I knew I was very stressed and anxious, and that if I let myself feel it, I would not be in any condition mentally or physically to succeed (this was not just a perfectionistic goal, lives were in the balance). So I acknowledged to myself that there was a lot of stress, etc but I "put it over there" for the duration and did my best (things went well). My question is what now? I don't feel stressed or anything because it's over, and I had no significant flare up of symptoms, so...do I just let it all go and get on to things or is that repressed stress going to be an issue?
I hope this makes sense, thanks!

Things went well. Done and dusted. Why worry? It’ll serve no purpose.
Isn’t repressed stress when there is a catastrophe and you don’t acknowledge it?
Sounds like you completed a dangerous task with an awareness of risk and all went well so that’s not repressing anything.

 

[RuthAnn]

Thanks arghmakeitstop (love the moniker!). I kinda thought that that was it, but all this repression stuff is kind of new to me. I am a lifelong TMSer (classic) so know I have a ton repressed, want to try to not add much more!

 

[MindBodyPT]

We all repress feelings, it is part of the human condition! It is a coping mechanism to get through daily life, you can’t feel the full weight of everything at all times. Your experience is normal and you have nothing to fear. TMS isn’t about never repressing feelings, it’s about acknowledging you have these repressed feelings and knowing that they can manifest in the body.

 

[RuthAnn]

Thank you for your assurances, MindBodyPT!

 

[Click#7]

We all repress feelings, it is part of the human condition! It is a coping mechanism to get through daily life, you can’t feel the full weight of everything at all times. Your experience is normal and you have nothing to fear. TMS isn’t about never repressing feelings, it’s about acknowledging you have these repressed feelings and knowing that they can manifest in the body.

I had to go to a class today and listen to a PT give a lecture on back pain and it's causes. Without being rude and asking questions I just listened and here is what she said: 1) shouldn't sit for more than 5 hours a day because sitting puts way too much pressure on the spine. 2) should walk at least 15 minutes a day BUT when your heels hit the ground it adds about 3 lbs of pressure to the lower back. 3) she went over all the typical core exercises that should be done daily etc. 4) More disability claims for back pain are because of sedentary jobs from sitting too much. She stress CORE strengthening exercises. 5) She went over all the disease of the spine as we age, including being overweight, that cause "pinched nerves " resulting in pain. I walked out wanting to cry as the majority of ppl there were over the age of 70 in wheelchairs using oxygen. They and me felt like we were hopeless. I told the elderly lady next to me to read John Sarno and when I explained him to her and his theory her eyes watered up and said "that's me." These PT's make it impossible to think that anyone can get better without sucking your belly button in all day and walk around with perfect posture ! Comments appreciated.

 

[MindBodyPT]

I had to go to a class today and listen to a PT give a lecture on back pain and it's causes. Without being rude and asking questions I just listened and here is what she said: 1) shouldn't sit for more than 5 hours a day because sitting puts way too much pressure on the spine. 2) should walk at least 15 minutes a day BUT when your heels hit the ground it adds about 3 lbs of pressure to the lower back. 3) she went over all the typical core exercises that should be done daily etc. 4) More disability claims for back pain are because of sedentary jobs from sitting too much. She stress CORE strengthening exercises. 5) She went over all the disease of the spine as we age, including being overweight, that cause "pinched nerves " resulting in pain. I walked out wanting to cry as the majority of ppl there were over the age of 70 in wheelchairs using oxygen. They and me felt like we were hopeless. I told the elderly lady next to me to read John Sarno and when I explained him to her and his theory her eyes watered up and said "that's me." These PT's make it impossible to think that anyone can get better without sucking your belly button in all day and walk around with perfect posture ! Comments appreciated.

Hi Click,

I'm sorry you had to sit through that garbage! This is the traditional structural model of pain, this PT clearly had no training in anything related to TMS or even the newer, more widely accepted theories such as pain neuroscience education and "central sensitization". Not all PTs think this way, but it is still quite common. These things she said are all not true...obviously getting up and moving is good for your whole mind and body, but it is fine if you can't do that! Like you said, folks in wheelchairs aren't even able to do this at all! It sounds like this PT was also quite ableist in their viewpoint (discriminating against those disabled people), which is unfortunate. The thing about the heels is probably technically true (hitting the ground causes pressure) but that is totally normal! Not injury-causing! If it was, we'd all be keeling over. Our bodies are stronger than this. We know that core strengthening is a great thing to do for overall strength and conditioning but you could never do a single core exercise ever and be perfectly functional. Finally, yes, aging obviously causes NORMAL ABNORMALITIES (not disease!) of the spine...I won't even start in on the weight bias that many healthcare professionals bring that was brought up in the class (that's another soap box I could get on!)...having a higher weight does not cause back pain. Period.

I'm glad to hear you told someone about Sarno, awesome! Please try to ignore this information, I know it can cause anxiety since it seems convincing coming from a medical professional but just think about the healthcare industry at large and how 99% of people working in it do not understand the mind-body connection. Being a proponent of TMS requires going against societal and accepted norms, which is a big challenge.

 

[Click#7]

Hi Click,

I'm sorry you had to sit through that garbage! This is the traditional structural model of pain, this PT clearly had no training in anything related to TMS or even the newer, more widely accepted theories such as pain neuroscience education and "central sensitization". Not all PTs think this way, but it is still quite common. These things she said are all not true...obviously getting up and moving is good for your whole mind and body, but it is fine if you can't do that! Like you said, folks in wheelchairs aren't even able to do this at all! It sounds like this PT was also quite ableist in their viewpoint (discriminating against those disabled people), which is unfortunate. The thing about the heels is probably technically true (hitting the ground causes pressure) but that is totally normal! Not injury-causing! If it was, we'd all be keeling over. Our bodies are stronger than this. We know that core strengthening is a great thing to do for overall strength and conditioning but you could never do a single core exercise ever and be perfectly functional. Finally, yes, aging obviously causes NORMAL ABNORMALITIES (not disease!) of the spine...I won't even start in on the weight bias that many healthcare professionals bring that was brought up in the class (that's another soap box I could get on!)...having a higher weight does not cause back pain. Period.

I'm glad to hear you told someone about Sarno, awesome! Please try to ignore this information, I know it can cause anxiety since it seems convincing coming from a medical professional but just think about the healthcare industry at large and how 99% of people working in it do not understand the mind-body connection. Being a proponent of TMS requires going against societal and accepted norms, which is a big challenge.

I have one other question...do you think I could be having back pain related to the screws and rods in my back ?

 

[MindBodyPT]

Not likely at this distance from surgery! How's your general TMS healing been going?

 

[Click#7]

Not likely at this distance from surgery! How's your general TMS healing been going?

Some days good some bad. Pains going from one hip one day and then opposite side the next day. I will have a weird parasthesia on the back of my thigh and then it goes away. Lately i feel like i am sitting on a marble, but I force myself to sit regardless knowing it's my feelings I need to work thru. I have learned that pain meds numb the pain for a while and ALSO numb my emotions. I stay active to get past the conditioning issues. I am losing fear. Working with a tms therapist. Ya know if my physical pain wasn't as intense I could progress more....any suggestions ?

 

[JoeHealingTms]

Normally is not "repressed stress" that does anything but repressed feelings and emotions. Repressed thoughts or words that you want to say and do not. Stress is an immediate physical reaction. Once it comes and go, is gone. It is not "repressed" or stored, so if you did well , then congratulate yourself, use whatever technique you used to pass the day and keep doing it, and ultimately ignore it.