Day 6 Still Doubt

So I just finished my Day 6 material and did the journaling. EVERYTHING I'm experiencing points to TMS. I have a herniation and annular tear at L5 since April. My back still hurts (about a 2) and the left top side of my pelvis (iliac) is quite painful (4 or 5 most days). I have had MRI's of everything from my neck to my knees and the only finding is the annular tear/herniation. Mt personality fits TMS (type A, perfectionist).

I think it is just years of believing that any pain has to be from a structural injury that is holding me back.

I have read Mind Over Back Pain and I'm about 25% done with The Divided Mind. I look forward to doing the work in the Structured Educational Program everyday and I have been telling myself over and over that there is nothing structurally wrong and it must be TMS.

I still have that 5% doubt in the back of my mind that something is injured and I'm going to make it worse.

Anyone else have this and how do I get past it? I'm seeing Dr Rashbaum who was trained by Dr Sarno but that's not until the end of November. I feel like if I had a trained doctor tell me it's TMS that would wipe out any doubt, but I don't want to wait until then. I plan to continue the work in the educational program and keep plugging away. Any other suggestions?

 

I totally self diagnosed, but that was admittedly easy because I had believed in the mind body connection for years. I just didn't have the final pieces of the puzzle, which were (1) understanding the repression/distraction mechanism, and (2) understanding that our brains are wired to keep us in fear.

The SEP will help you figure out what your repressed emotions are.

#2 is what is not allowing you to progress. You have to learn to hear how your brain is trying to keep you in fear, and you have to find the strength to counter the specific fear messages it is feeding you. Perhaps if you did some reading about fear as a survival mechanism this would help you visualize what you're up against.