Should I completely ignore all physical symptoms and only think about repressed emotions?

[danijel1998]

Hello everyone,

I read dr. Sarnos book 5 times but i still didn’t get if i should completely ignore physical symptoms and instead only think about repressed emotions?

My symptoms are:

IBS (i think it is getting better)
Tinnitus ( mostly 50% less severe si ce the onset 3 months ago)
I had an eardrum spasms which are gone now.
Gerd (able to eat most trigger foods unless they are too fatty like 30+ gams of fat per meal)
Shoulder pain that went away overnight but now lingers again but still very noticeable improvement in 3 weeks.

Most of these symptoms except IBS I developed during a very stressful period (in a span of a few months).


I am not sure if i should completely stop checking on my symptoms, for instance a lot of times i would check if my tinnitus rings less than it did a day before or i would check if i would have pain in my shoulder. Should i be doing that, or completely ignore everything?
I started reading dr. Sarno’s book like two and a half weeks ago. I noticed that many of my symptoms are improving. As i mentioned above shoulder pain completely disappeared together with the arm tingling but reappeared again i think probably because i tried to use that arm while driving too soon. I started eating things that i wasn’t tolerating before like chocolate and onions which don’t cause me stomach pain ( i started slowly reintroducing food to see how will it go and it is going pretty well for now).

Any thoughts/ advices would be much appreciated.

 

[Cactusflower]

Yes.
If you can do something with pain, but are still able to do it, do it. Practice telling yourself you are fine, that this is psychological.
So far, it sounds like it’s going pretty well!
I’d suggest focusing on repressed anger, which is the main (but not exclusively) emotion Dr. Sarno mentions, along with possible personality traits which Sarno outlines and how they feed the internal stress and anxiety. Try focusing a little less on perfectly understanding Sarno and try a little more experimenting with his theories, while reminding yourself you are absolutely safe doing so.
If you want to delve into psychological work with guidance, the Structured Educational program, which is free at tmswiki.org is a great way to learn techniques that might benefit you.

 

[danijel1998]

Yes.
If you can do something with pain, but are still able to do it, do it. Practice telling yourself you are fine, that this is psychological.
So far, it sounds like it’s going pretty well!
I’d suggest focusing on repressed anger, which is the main (but not exclusively) emotion Dr. Sarno mentions, along with possible personality traits which Sarno outlines and how they feed the internal stress and anxiety. Try focusing a little less on perfectly understanding Sarno and try a little more experimenting with his theories, while reminding yourself you are absolutely safe doing so.
If you want to delve into psychological work with guidance, the Structured Educational program, which is free at tmswiki.org is a great way to learn techniques that might benefit you.

Thanks for your quick response.
So basically every time i get a thought and think of checking the symptoms i should think of repressed emotions, that everything is fine and that the pain and symptoms are not dangerous but they are only reaction of my psychological state, correct?

Do you also suggest the work of Alan Gordon and his 3 weeks program?

 

[Cactusflower]

Alan’s program differs from Dr. Sarno in that there is much less emphasis on emotions.
At this point, you think in overall psychological terms - the program I suggested will better explain this.
You do not need to be perfect “every time” is a form of perfection and self pressure. This is part of the personality trait importance Sarno speaks of.
It’s your choice to choose a program to follow, and your choice of which to use. Alan Gordon’s program works well for some, and is mainly about conquering the mindset of fear.
The SEP goes much deeper and incorporates mindset and emotions.

 

[Booble]

Hello everyone,

I read dr. Sarnos book 5 times but i still didn’t get if i should completely ignore physical symptoms and instead only think about repressed emotions?

My symptoms are:

IBS (i think it is getting better)
Tinnitus ( mostly 50% less severe si ce the onset 3 months ago)
I had an eardrum spasms which are gone now.
Gerd (able to eat most trigger foods unless they are too fatty like 30+ gams of fat per meal)
Shoulder pain that went away overnight but now lingers again but still very noticeable improvement in 3 weeks.

Most of these symptoms except IBS I developed during a very stressful period (in a span of a few months).


I am not sure if i should completely stop checking on my symptoms, for instance a lot of times i would check if my tinnitus rings less than it did a day before or i would check if i would have pain in my shoulder. Should i be doing that, or completely ignore everything?
I started reading dr. Sarno’s book like two and a half weeks ago. I noticed that many of my symptoms are improving. As i mentioned above shoulder pain completely disappeared together with the arm tingling but reappeared again i think probably because i tried to use that arm while driving too soon. I started eating things that i wasn’t tolerating before like chocolate and onions which don’t cause me stomach pain ( i started slowly reintroducing food to see how will it go and it is going pretty well for now).

Any thoughts/ advices would be much appreciated.

I vote for stop checking your symptoms. I used to do that too where I would each day (and often multiple times a day) take an inventory to check everything.
After a lifetime of doing that I still fall back into it sometimes and have to remind myself to stop.
I have come to believe that checking is part of our emotional need to check that we are OK. I've read that it might come from the days when they told new mothers to "let them cry" - that the infant learns to check on themselves. I had a "let them cry" mother but I have no idea if that is legit theory or not. I think it's from feeling unsafe.

The things that I stop checking tend to go away. The things that I keep checking linger. The more I feel the need to check, the more I know I have to get out my pen and notebook and start letting the inside stuff out.

 

[AndrewMillerMFT]

Sometimes, checking symptoms incessantly itself becomes like a symptom. A way to avoid the emotional things of our life. If you want to try a method like Alan Gordon's (an excellent method!), note what he says about how to engage in the symptoms with a sense of lightness and not be hypervigalent as to if they're better or worse.

There's nothing wrong with noticing symptoms per se, but if we are focused on that, on if they're improving or not, then we're not engaging in our lives and reclaiming what was lost nor are we spending time on what is coming up for us emotionally in the moment or perhaps about the past.

 

[danijel1998]

Alan’s program differs from Dr. Sarno in that there is much less emphasis on emotions.
At this point, you think in overall psychological terms - the program I suggested will better explain this.
You do not need to be perfect “every time” is a form of perfection and self pressure. This is part of the personality trait importance Sarno speaks of.
It’s your choice to choose a program to follow, and your choice of which to use. Alan Gordon’s program works well for some, and is mainly about conquering the mindset of fear.
The SEP goes much deeper and incorporates mindset and emotions.

Thanks, i will use Gordon’s strategy for the fear and overall dr.Sarno’s advices.

Do you know what is the best way to stop checking the symptoms and if there are any improvements? I am struggling with this a lot…

 

[danijel1998]

The things that I stop checking tend to go away.

Thanks for telling me, i will do my best to stop checking on my symptoms completely and just try to live my life ignoring the symptoms and instead focusing on the emotions.

 

[danijel1998]

then we're not engaging in our lives and reclaiming what was lost

Can you please tell me what do you mean by this?

 

[Booble]

Thanks for telling me, i will do my best to stop checking on my symptoms completely and just try to live my life ignoring the symptoms and instead focusing on the emotions.

Reminding me of not so many years ago when I was "addicted" to my pulse oximeter and constantly checking my heartbeat.
I was having night time of waking up in the middle of the night with my heart pounding and racing.
I started bringing the pulse oximeter into the bed with me and I would keep checking.
Do you think that helped? Hint: Of course not!

I had to ween myself off it. First I stopped bringing it into the bed with me and kept it on my dresser. I allowed myself to get up and check it no more than once or maybe it was twice I can't remember. It wasn't until I stopped looking completely that my heart/adrenals finally calmed down.

It seems crazy and humorous now but it wasn't at that time!

 

[AndrewMillerMFT]

Can you please tell me what do you mean by this?

Sure, sometimes, focusing on symptoms becomes a way for clients to not engage in activities or relationships in their lives that would bring on the emotional reactions they struggle to tolerate. It becomes a vicious cycle.

We need to learn to tolerate emotions that cause the symptoms but the focus on the symptoms and not doing all our life activities unrestricted (or mostly so) keeps us from having opportunities to confront and tolerate those feelings at a new and higher level!

 

[Booble]

Sure, sometimes, focusing on symptoms becomes a way for clients to not engage in activities or relationships in their lives that would bring on the emotional reactions they struggle to tolerate. It becomes a vicious cycle.

We need to learn to tolerate emotions that cause the symptoms but the focus on the symptoms and not doing all our life activities unrestricted (or mostly so) keeps us from having opportunities to confront and tolerate those feelings at a new and higher level!

Well said!

 

[danijel1998]

Reminding me of not so many years ago when I was "addicted" to my pulse oximeter and constantly checking my heartbeat.
I was having night time of waking up in the middle of the night with my heart pounding and racing.
I started bringing the pulse oximeter into the bed with me and I would keep checking.
Do you think that helped? Hint: Of course not!

I had to ween myself off it. First I stopped bringing it into the bed with me and kept it on my dresser. I allowed myself to get up and check it no more than once or maybe it was twice I can't remember. It wasn't until I stopped looking completely that my heart/adrenals finally calmed down.

It seems crazy and humorous now but it wasn't at that time!

Thanks a lot for sharing your story, i stopped checking my symptoms completely since yesterday and i already feel better. Hope that they are gonna go away completely as some symptoms rapidly improving…

 

[danijel1998]

Sure, sometimes, focusing on symptoms becomes a way for clients to not engage in activities or relationships in their lives that would bring on the emotional reactions they struggle to tolerate. It becomes a vicious cycle.

We need to learn to tolerate emotions that cause the symptoms but the focus on the symptoms and not doing all our life activities unrestricted (or mostly so) keeps us from having opportunities to confront and tolerate those feelings at a new and higher level!

Thanks a lot for the clarification, yesterday i noticed that dr. Sarno in his book said that constantly worrying about the symptoms shows how unconscious mind actually trying to impose its rules and it shows how important for unconscious mind is to get your attention on the symptoms. In my mind I interpret that as if the unconscious mind is winning the battle against the conscious mind. So i told myself, no not anymore. That realization was the click for me….

 

[Booble]

Thanks a lot for sharing your story, i stopped checking my symptoms completely since yesterday and i already feel better. Hope that they are gonna go away completely as some symptoms rapidly improving…

Fantastic!
Turns out our bodies know how to take care of themselves without our (conscious) intervention. We're like back seat drivers always checking and butting in!