TMS Belief and Understanding?

[kevinmichael]

I think that it is OK to continue taking the medicine to prevent blood clots. This does not contradict TMS treatment. When I got those clots it had absolutely nothing to do with TMS. What happened was I got that severe 2014 Flu. I had to go out of state and stay at my brothers house to recover. I was bedridden . I got the clots because of two things. I have bad varicose veins in my leg and I spent to much time in bed for weeks. The clots travelled to my lungs. This can cause cardiac arrest. It can also cause lung damage. I made a full recovery. I still have chest pain issues. I keep telling myself that my sub conscious is targeting this area as a distraction because my lungs were compromised. I should not be having any symptoms at all.

 

[kchung]

We are told that the pain only exists to distract our attention from our emotions. I find this hard to grasp. I would say the pain sits in our body as tension states caused by our tendency to repress emotions.

I have exactly the same problem! I find it so hard to grasp the explanation of pain as a distraction. It is counter-intuitive, and counter-productive. Can you say that headaches or hay-fever allergy are also distractions? Can we even generalize more to many other physical symptoms as distractions as we extend the meaning of TMS? Distract from what? Things so scary to even think about? Some hidden darkness in the subconscious that can scare you so much and cause damage to the body?

What about anger? We realize we have repressed anger. But what is the purpose of pain to serve as a "distraction" to repressed anger? Does it mean that pain can distract you from engaging in repressing your anger?

 

[Tennis Tom]

Dr. Sarno says the workings of the brain are so complex that we may never discover the mechanism by which it creates TMS/psychosomatic symptoms for distractions from fearful thoughts. He says it doesn't matter, accepting and belief in the theory is what is important.

 

[Richsimm22]

Kchung it's an educated guess what's going on in the workings of the brain. Like people have said it's not too important but it's a great topic of discussion. Don't be afraid to question your own doubts That's called having your own mind and can get you some answers. Some will agree with everything Sarno says just because he said it no matter what it is. Same as believing everything in the bible. If something doesn't make sense then ask more questions then sometimes it will either confirm your doubts or help you believe. I agree with 90+ percent of what Sarno says but I also think that parts that don't sit too well aren't that important. Maybe I'm wrong and I'm not afraid of that either. I'm very open to changing my mind given the right information.

 

[kevinmichael]

I go along with the distraction theory. Over time we build up repressed emotions and rage in the sub -conscious. Sarno believes that through the autonomic nervous system blood is reduced to areas of the body. This is a defense mechanism to prevent the rage from bursting into the conscious mind. We become preoccupied with the physical symptoms instead of the rage. Another example in 1999 I got knocked out in a head on car accident. I lost two days of memory around that time. I have zero memories of the accident even when I drive through the same intersection. This is another example of a defense mechanism. Memory loss is somewhat common in car/train/ plane accidents. The Amtrak engineer that derailed in Philadelphia has no recollection of the event. Unless he is lying or doing what a shady lawyer is telling him to say.