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When your nervous system is in constant fight or flight, physical or emotional symptoms might occur as a result of tension, leading to system overload.
Pain is not what you think
It hurts. Your pain is terrible. You can’t get rid of it. Or the anxiety, sleeplessness is driving you mad.
- You went to your doctor or psychiatrist and they were puzzled. Perhaps, you received the diagnosis of a slipped disc, tension headaches or migraines. Or fibromyalgia, whiplash or chronic tendonitis. It might have been stomach pains or pelvic pains, irritable bowel syndrome, back pain. Or perhaps, you have insomnia, burnout or anxiety.
- So you decided to explore alternative medicine. Perhaps, you took herbal remedies, vitamins or saw a chiropractor. Perhaps you expanded to acupuncture, hypnosis, even crystals…and you kept doom scrolling Dr. Google for the latest magic cure. But still – nothing helped!
- The pain is remains. You start to think nobody understands or they even think you’re crazy. Maybe your doctor referred you to a psychiatrist or psychologist, suggesting that your pain isn’t real, that it’s all in your head.
- But you’re not imagining the pain. The pain is in your body and it is real.
- It’s real. But the diagnosis is wrong.
You may not have a serious disease. But you do have a medical condition. And you’re not crazy. In fact, you’re not much different from most people.
If you haven’t been helped by traditional or alternative medical care, meditation, yoga, or what not, you, yes you might just suffer from the Mindbody Syndrome. You are not alone. In fact, most people have some form of it.
The true cause of pain
Your body is producing pain because it is manifesting unresolved stress from
- Stressful events or trauma in child or adulthood (adverse childhood experiences – ACEs)
- Daily life (present/past trauma, negative experiences, turmoil)
- Personality traits (which affect how you respond to stress and how much pressure you tend to put upon yourself)
Your brain has twisted your body into pain because:
- It wants you to avoid the unresolved, painful emotions resulting from any of the above
- To protect you, the brain determined the pain is less excruciating than the aggravating, unresolved emotions
- The brain is always looking for the best solution, even though you might differ.
The brain has the reign on pain
- Mind and body are deeply interlinked, everyday sensations demonstrate the connection i.e. a nervous stomach before a presentation, a pressure headache, a gut feeling, blushing when embarrassed > stress causing physical sensations
- The mindbody relationship in chronic pain situations is just a level up > stress causing more intense physical sensations (pain)
- The brain always determines the pain strategy, to protect you
- The brain may develop pain in a weak physical spot or produce anxiety, sleeplessness to “protect” from painful emotions
- Pain gets your immediate attention. And it might get you valuable downtime.
- Physical or emotional manifestations develop when the glass is full, the limit reached
- When the water is back in the glass and evaporating, symptoms lessen
‘Symptoms are a manifestation of unresolved emotional turmoil and a maladapted stress response.’ – Dr. John Sarno
Conditions that may be TMS
There are literally millions of ways that TMS can manifest in the physical body – but always consult a doctor to rule out a serious underlying cause.
Migraines, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), rashes/eczema/psoriasis, neck / back pain, chronic anxiety, shoulder pain, frozen/stiff muscles, pelvic pain, urination frequency, insomnia, reproductive issues, burnout, joint pain, varying vision conditions, muscle weakness, fibromyalgia, fatigue, watering eyes, vertigo, numbness, carpal tunnel, tremors, the list is endless.
- The most important thing to realize is that the pain (and any other Mindbody syndrome symptoms) is real; that emotions are very powerful forces that can cause physical symptoms; and finally, that if you have a form of the Mind Body Syndrome, you are not crazy
- Understanding the Mindbody syndrome is the first step towards healing
- You can break the connection between your mind and your physical pain.
- And you can start to use your mental energy to overcome your pain and rebuild your life, instead of worrying about conditions.
- I know this is true, because I’ve done it myself
What is TMS?
- Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS) is a condition that causes real physical symptoms that are not due to pathological or structural abnormalities and are not explained by diagnostic tests. In TMS, symptoms are caused by psychological stress.
- TMS is also known as the The Mindbody Syndrome, Stress Illness, the Neuropathway Disorder or Psycho-physiologic Disorder (PPD).
- Throughout our lives, we learn (or rather, we are taught) to suppress, neglect, reject or ignore our negative emotions, traumatic experiences, anger, stresses and anxieties. Put simply, TMS symptoms are a result of built-up emotional tension displaying in the body as physical conditions. When we continue to reject our true feelings, they build up over time and make the glass overflow.
Who discovered TMS?
Dr. Sarno was a specialist in rehabilitation medicine at NYU Medical Center and pioneered the mind-body medicine movement. Dr Sarno was a ground-breaking physician who was fascinated by the growing global epidemic of stress-related conditions and their many manifestations, he developed a method that explains how chronic symptoms can occur in the body and how to treat them without surgery or medication.
In his inquiries he discovered that most patients had suffered emotional anguish, trauma and experienced a variety of different aches and pains throughout their lives.
Ensuing, he explored the impact of repressed emotions and discovered that the brain has the reign on pain and decides when and where to inflict it, as TMS pain is deemed easier to digest than feeling the repressed emotions.
Subsequently, he developed a system that enabled patients to relieve their overflowing glass. As a result, the pain diminished and often went away within weeks or even instantly
Dr. Sarno discovered how patients can recognize the emotional roots of their TMS and sever the connections between mental and physical pain… and sometimes, just by reading his book “Healing back pain” become pain-free.
Watch my youtube videos:
In English:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl8JWuzdl6c
In German:
Symptoms are a manifestation of unresolved emotional turmoil and are part of a maladapted protective/stress response.
Symptoms are a manifestation of unresolved emotional turmoil and are part of a maladapted protective/stress response.
Resources
Please read books written by Dr. John Sarno, Steven Ozanich, Dr. Howard Schubiner, Dr. Gabor Mate, Dr. Peter Levine, Nicole Sachs and listen to podcasts by Nicole Sachs – The cure for chronic pain or by Katelyn Michals, The Mindbody Mastery.