Weekes or Sarno?

Hi all,

I'm having a tough day. I started to see a health psychologist and today we went over my childhood and history. That conversation always brings up many emotions and ends in mental exhaustion. I notice some on here have healed using the Claire Weekes approach. I was very successful with her book Hope and Help for your nerves with anxiety in my 20's and OCD in my 30's. Dr. Weekes doesn't speak of pain as a symptom of anxiety in her books but I am wondering if her techniques would work the same as Sarno on pain?.

My fear of chronic pain and fear of never getting better is enormous. It is quite possibly the reason for the rest of the pain I have. I do notice my pain goes down when I am more calm and hopeful of recovery. Unfortunately, when I asked the Health Psychologist this question he couldn't answer it for me. This made me feel very scared and hopeless once again. The rest of my evening has been spent in tears.

Thanks for your support,
Pilatesgirl

 

Hi Pilatesgirl

I'm sorry you are going through such a rough patch and hope you feel better soon. If it's any consolation, your Health Psychologist doesn't know everything which is why he couldn't answer your question. You are probably much better at answering some of your own questions, more than you think, or at least you will be by the time we get done with you!

I also wanted to say that when I listened to some Claire Weekes recordings last year for the first time - and I hadn't read any of her books previously - I was suffering some serious physical pain rather than anxiety. I'm no stranger to depression and in my late teens experienced several full blown panic attacks but for the most part my emotions manifest themselves into pain. However I found that Weekes' words did help me when I applied what she said about anxiety and depression to pain. Have a look at this thread where Alan Gordon address the pain vs anxiety question:

http://www.tmswiki.org/forum/threads/what-is-the-correlation-between-pain-and-anxiety.148/

 

Hi pilatesgirl... In my experience, anything I can do to calm myself and quiet my mind helps with the pain. It's a direct correlation. So I've become more dedicated to spending time in meditation every morning, going for walks in the woods, staying mindful, and being kind to myself. It's like you create an environment in your bodymind that is not so hypersensitive and alarmed, and with less fear there is less pain. Fear and pain go hand in hand. Treating the fear is the way to go. You can do this. It just take some time and focus. Wish I could just give you a hug right now, but a virtual hug will have to do.

 

Fear of thinking you won't get better can be helped by Claire Weekes Teachings ok. As said above Claire Weeks should be studied right along with Sarno and also Abraham Lowe ok. I will post some of Claire's best below along with Lowes best teachings so you can beat this fear and get a handle over it ok.

1. Here is just some of Claire's Wisdom -- these are some of her most famous tools
   
   Dos and Don’ts
   1. Do not run away from fear. Analyze it and see it as no more then physical feelings. Feelings are not facts, do not be bluffed.
   2. Accept all strange sensations connected with your illness. Do not
   fight them. Float past them. Recognize that they are temporary.
   3. Let there be no self-pity.
   4. Settle your problems as quickly as you can, if not with action, then by glimpsing and accepting a new point of view.
   5. Waste no time on “What might have been” and “If only…”
   6. Face sorrow and know that time will bring relief.
   7. Be occupied. Do not lie in bed brooding. Be occupied calmly , not feverishly trying to forget yourself.
   8. Remember that the strength in a muscle may depend on the confidence with which it is used.
   9. Accept your obsessions and be prepared to live with them
   temporarily. Do not fight them by trying to push them away. Let time do
   that.
   10. Remember your recovery does not necessarily depend “entirely on
   you” as so many people are so ready to tell you. You may need help.
   Accept it willingly, without shame.
   11. Do not measure your progress day by day. Don’t count the months,
   years you have been ill and despair at the thought of them. Once you
   are on the right road to recovery, recovery is inevitable, however
   protracted your illness may have been.
   12. Remember withdrawal is your jailer. Recovery lies on the other side of panic. Recovery lies in places you fear.
   13. Do not be discouraged if you cannot make decisions while you are ill. When you are well, decisions will be more easily made.
   14. Never accept total defeat. It is never too late to give yourself another chance.
   15. Practice don’t test.
   16. Face. Accept. Float. Let time pass.
   If you do this, you WILL recover.
   
   I want to say what facing is where you know your about to have anxiety or a pain episode right. So you don't fear it, or judge it or criticize it. Wait for it to come if it must, most everyone has been taught to hate anxiety and Pain. Well the more you hate it the more it will become and the bigger it will get so you have to learn how to Float. I'd highly recommend getting her book ok.
   
   
   This is a list of Dr. Abraham Lowes most famous Tools.
   
   Tools List
   The tools on this list are quoted or adapted from Mental Health Through Will Training (MH), Selections from Dr. Low’s Works (SEL) and Manage Your Fears, Manage Your Anger (MYF) and will help you take part in a Recovery International meeting. Many other tools can be found in these books.
   Some Basic RI Tools
   Treat mental health as a business and not as a game………………..…...……………MH ch.25
   Humor is our best friend, temper is our worst enemy……………………………….…..MH p.108
   If you can't change a situation you can change your attitude towards it...MYF p.108, Sel. p.31‐32
   Be self‐led, not symptom‐led. …..………………………………………......MYF p.114‐118, 280‐283
   Nervous symptoms and sensations are distressing but not dangerous…….….….. SEL p.53, MH p.115, 119
   Temper is, among other things, an intellectual blindness to the other side of the story…………MH p.159
   Comfort is a want, not a need. ………………………………..……………......….....MH chs.13, 22
   There is no right or wrong in the trivialities of every day life………...SEL p.39, MH p.157, 195‐196
   Calm begets calm, temper begets temper………………………….…...…….MYF p.245, SEL p.31
   Don't take our own dear selves too seriously………………………………....………….MH p.109
   Feelings should be expressed and temper suppressed…………………....……...…....MH p.178
   Helplessness is not hopelessness………………………..……………….……MH ch.7, MYF p.184
   Some people have a passion for self‐distrust…….…………...…..…….MH ch.29 & MYF Lecture 2
   Temper maintains and intensifies symptoms………………………..…….……….……MH p. 219
   Do things in part acts……………………………………………….…….……….……MH p.246‐249
   Endorse yourself for the effort, not only for the performance……...…….MYF p.13, SEL p.46, 132
   Have the courage to make a mistake………………..……….MH p.203, ch.30, MYF p.60, SEL p.108
   Feelings are not facts……………………………...……………..………….MH ch.9, MYF Lecture 14
   Do the things you fear and hate to do……………...………..…………...MH p. 329‐330, MYF p.197
   Fear is a belief –– beliefs can be changed………………………………………….MYF p.266‐269
   Every act of self‐control leads to a sense of self‐respect....…………….…….………..MH p.166
   Decide, plan and act. ………………………….……………………………………………...MH p.42
   Any decision will steady you……………………………………...……………….………...MYF p.5
   Anticipation is often worse than realization….…………………..…..………….MH p.114‐115, 146
   Replace an insecure thought with a secure thought……………..……….….……..MYF Lecture 1
   Bear the discomfort in order to gain comfort…………………….………….…………….MH p.149
   Hurt feelings are just beliefs not shared………………………………….………………..SEL p.21
   Self‐appointed expectations lead to self‐induced frustrations…………….…………….SEL p.35
   People do things that annoy us, not necessarily to annoy us………..…...…………….MH ch.48
   Knowledge teaches you what to do, practice tells you how to do it……...……………SEL p.118
   Muscles can be commanded to do what one fears to do………………………..……..SEL p.123
   Tempers are frequently uncontrolled, but not uncontrollable.…………………………..MH p.392

pilatesgirl you let your Doctors limited knowledge control your thoughts and thus emotions. You have power over this, just because someone doesn't know about a situation doesn't mean you have to hurt for it ok.
This is what Abraham Lowe would say ok.
Replace an insecure thought with a secure thought -- Bear the discomfort in order to gain comfort and Hurt feelings are just beliefs not shared. Now that you have shared your feelings, and beared the discomfort, replace the insecure thought with a secure thought.
Bless you.
Hope all is well.

PS. This is your answer and cure. Listen to Marian and yb44 above, they know well.