The purpose of pain

So I've been journaling pretty consistent for the first time in my life, I have dug up a lot of things about myself and feel that I am discovering a lot and gaining a very good grasp on TMS and the Mind Body Syndrome. I have been dealing with some traveling pain for about 5 months now and its been a bit of a ride emotionally, i immediately recognized all the stress and changes in my life recently and how i never did anything to empty my resevoir of rage and to be quite honest I have never done my homework before in general.. First time i dealt with pain i went through all things physical then TMS just made sense and i was better in a short time... second time I plainly just tried to ignore it and fought it that way (WORST YEAR EVERY) but it went away... This time i am journaling the way i should and seeing a therapists about emotional issues. I have had some success in that the pain has moved around, intensified and weakened in the journaling process. But something I wondered to myself today, the pain has a purpose, the pain is there due to my neglect of inner rage and giving it a voice... so does anyone prescribe to the idea that the pain has almost a timeline regardless of your recognition and journaling/digging? i know the unconscious doesnt understand or recognize time and that it sees things differently, but does anyone else believe that there is a process of waiting in this effort because you are essentially healing. the only reason i even bring this up, is i have noticed that i use to get these shoulder issues that would last about 2 weeks and i never once got them during any of the times i have had back issues, so its made me realize that my mind.body is communicating to me but i wasnt recognizing it

 

It's an interesting idea. It's certainly possible, since I typically experienced one symptom or pain issue at a time and none of my recoveries were instant. They all took a number of months.

I've been around this TMS stuff for awhile now. I recovered from pain issues in the early 2000s and from CFS more recently. Way back then, Dr. Sarno's distraction theory made the most sense to me and it still makes sense. Your post above and the "neglect of inner rage and giving it a voice" describes distraction theory very skillfully! But also... sometimes, I'm not sure why the brain does what it does. Not to be overly dramatic, but why does the brain cause people to get addicted to drugs, or commit suicide, or do a thousand other things that do not benefit us. Maybe those are completely different issues with totally different explanations. But it's clear that our brains don't always work in a way that is helpful.

The good news is we can address it through these tools.

 

As of late it’s really dawned on me that accepting that the pain has a purpose is pretty important, kind of a method to get the doubt out of me. I currently still hurt but the pain has moved and tipped it’s har and really isn’t as big of a deal to me. I think My second pain relapse along with this current one I tried to fight it all head on and completely neglected that this pain had a purpose, I’ve accepted its purpose and me neglecting my unconscious since my last relapse of pain... I almost need to make sure I have a regular “purge” of emotions and treat thing more like a preventative instead of letting it all build up.

I wish I could say I was out of the woods here again, but at least I am starting to recognize the cause of things and am figuring out more as I go. I know I’ve never worked on my emotional causes but have eventually accepted that they are the cause of my pain and the fear, doubt and occupation with the pain keeps it around.. but I have noticed that me ignoring my inner self is keeping the relapses as a potential and it’s going to serve its purpose then be gone