TMS ,ocd and depersonalisation

Anisha_d87

Anisha_d87

Peer Supporter
Hey all firstly big apology as this is a long post, a bit about my background: Been on the site a few years ago when I was overcoming pelvic pain using TMS and quickly recovered from the pain . Ive been about 4 years pain free and have continued to deal with my emotions and I fully understand that any pain I feel is emotions being repressed and an indication of how safe I feel,pain does not bother me anymore. One thing I might add is that I'm currently 7 months pregnant with baby number 2 so I'm wondering if any of the below is just because of increase of hormones. Anyway since a young age I've had stages of my life when I've dealt with ocd and obsessive/ intrusive thoughts but have always managed to deal with them through exposure prevention and just accepting the thoughts/mindfulness. I haven't had any ocd related thoughts for a very long time maybe years and if I have I've quickly been able to let them go paying them with no respect.
last week my knees began to randomly hurt and I dismissed this as tms and then bam next day woke up with relapse depersonalisation.my first experience with Depersonalisation was maybe 15 years ago and I was able to overcome this using a few self help books. The last few days i have had an increase of obsessive thinking(ocd) and finding it very difficult to manage the Depersonalisation and ocd both respectively
Now I've come across many who have said ocd is TMS however I'm struggling to come to terms with this. If pain is a sign of repressed emotions ,what are reoccurring intrusive thoughts? How do I treat these in terms of TMS approach. How do I apply a mind body perspective to obsessive thoughts? I've never treated the ocd as tms and I'm wondering if this is some kind of sympton imperative. If anyone has had experience with bodily focused obsessions example focusing too much on blinking ,breathing or Evan thinking ( I'm having a very difficult time not thinking about thinking but I've overcome this "obsession" many times over in previous years by treating it as just another intrusive thought and using mindfullness however atm can't shift focus and the dp isn't helping as it makes you think and focus more inwards)
The last few days have been very difficult,but I've managed . A few times I've Evan preferred actual pain over the ocd and Depersonalisation which makes me realise Evan more that this
is TMS trying to distract me from my emotions. Anyway has anyone else here dealt with intrusive thoughts using mind body approach and how? Should I continue to manage the thoughts as I previously did( through ERP ,cbt , mindfulness)and accept the anxiety?atm I'm seeing a therapist to overcome the hyperrwareness ocd and I have mentioned to her that I believe in the mind body connection also.
Looking forward to atleast one response lol xxxx
 
Hi! Yes, what you describe is a TMS equivalent... a way for your brain to create a diversion. I highly recommend Dr. Claire Weeks, "Hope & Help For Your Nerves" and she tackles these topics. Basically, thoughts are just thoughts...transient and harmless. We can let them float by without believing them or identifying with them. There's nothing we really need to do all. The mindset of indifference one would apply to TMS is the same for anxious thoughts. Everything is temporary and yes, your brain is upping the ante in a sense, because in many ways these states of being are much more distressing than physical symptoms. Keep reminding yourself that this too shall pass, because it will!
 
Thank you so much for your reply,I guess my next question is ,should I continue with the exposure response therapy alongside the acceptance and commitment therapy to overcome these current "obsessions" alongside dealing with my emotions I would have done when I was overcoming the pelvic pain? With hyperrwareness off the body and mind I feel like the ERP and mindfullness and mindfullness body scanning really helped in the past. It helped me to just accept that it's okay to think about my thinking or it's okay to notice my blinking whenever my body wants to revert to this type of awareness. I feel like just accepting that it's TMS this time is just not enough. I hope the above makes sense xx
 
Also you're right Dr Claire weeks book is amazing I repurchased it again last week but haven't read it all xx I think because I don't recall it covering hyperawarness my anxious mind is looking for more reassurance x
 
Yes, any modality that reduces fear and lowers anxiety and calms down the brain is helpful. If you find somatic tracking or meditation or walks in nature or journaling or whatever (fill in the blank) then it all achieves the same purpose. TMS and anxiety are one and the same. Claire Weekes is brilliant when it comes to this topic and I consider her to be the Dr. Sarno of anxiety. reassurance seeking is simply a learned habit just as physical symptoms are learned habits of the brain. Once you are aware, you can catch yourself and shift focus...engage in something else that you find rewarding.
 
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