Dr. Howard Schubiner, one of a handful of doctors who has joined Dr. John Sarno in discussing and treating TMS, has a notable new web site up and running. The site presents a clear overview of TMS, including four video presentations.
The site also has an online course available, for a fee. Whether or not you feel inclined to sign up (the cost is $250), the web site is definitely worth a visit for anyone seeking more information about the mind-body connection in general, and its relation to this condition that has been labeled TMS by Sarno and his followers.
Showing posts with label Sarno. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sarno. Show all posts
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
New study: back pain largely mind-induced
In the Daily Mail, a British paper, an article about new research that claims that most back pain is not from actual physical injury. (Note that this is no news to TMS sufferers, or followers of Dr. John Sarno.)
The study was specifically looking at trends in health following the reunification of Germany in the early '90s.
Shortly after East and West Germany were reunited, statistics show that 84 percent of West Germans were affected by back pain, compared to 69 percent of East Germans. By 2003, the percentages has just about equalized.
What accounted for the rise in back pain among residents of the former East Germany? "Researchers blame increased exposure to media reports on how back pain could be a severely disabling condition," says the Daily Mail, and quoted the published study directly:
"After reunification, all those 'myths' and misconceptions about back pain being pervasive in Western societies immediately spread to East Germany."
The study claims that only about 15 percent of back pain is actually due to a structural problem of some kind.
The Daily Mail found not too much receptivity to this idea at home, however. "British experts said if back pain is all in the mind, this is only true in a very few cases."
And right here is exactly why so many people seem to reject out of hand the idea of mind-induced pain, because it's often said to be "all in the mind." Neither traditional doctors nor many patients want to be told this because the implication is that the pain is somehow imaginary.
So let's be clear here: when people talk about the mind creating pain, this does not mean the pain is "all in the mind." The pain is still very much in the body.
Personally, I don't see what's so hard to understand about this, but it seems to trip lots and lots of people up. They hear about how the mind may create pain and think that means someone's basically making it all up.
In the case of back pain this is completely not true. The pain is real, and really happening in your body. Mind-induced pain is real, physical pain. Just like mind-induced embarrassment can turn your actual cheeks actually red.
The study was specifically looking at trends in health following the reunification of Germany in the early '90s.
Shortly after East and West Germany were reunited, statistics show that 84 percent of West Germans were affected by back pain, compared to 69 percent of East Germans. By 2003, the percentages has just about equalized.
What accounted for the rise in back pain among residents of the former East Germany? "Researchers blame increased exposure to media reports on how back pain could be a severely disabling condition," says the Daily Mail, and quoted the published study directly:
"After reunification, all those 'myths' and misconceptions about back pain being pervasive in Western societies immediately spread to East Germany."
The study claims that only about 15 percent of back pain is actually due to a structural problem of some kind.
The Daily Mail found not too much receptivity to this idea at home, however. "British experts said if back pain is all in the mind, this is only true in a very few cases."
And right here is exactly why so many people seem to reject out of hand the idea of mind-induced pain, because it's often said to be "all in the mind." Neither traditional doctors nor many patients want to be told this because the implication is that the pain is somehow imaginary.
So let's be clear here: when people talk about the mind creating pain, this does not mean the pain is "all in the mind." The pain is still very much in the body.
Personally, I don't see what's so hard to understand about this, but it seems to trip lots and lots of people up. They hear about how the mind may create pain and think that means someone's basically making it all up.
In the case of back pain this is completely not true. The pain is real, and really happening in your body. Mind-induced pain is real, physical pain. Just like mind-induced embarrassment can turn your actual cheeks actually red.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Back pain persists; the New York Times is puzzled
"Americans are spending more money than ever to treat spine problems, but their backs are not getting any better."
That's the first line in an article in Wednesday's New York Times, and that pretty much tells you the story.
As strong as the article is on statistics and evidence of the widespread problem, the Times remains as puzzled about it as the medical mainstream whose actions are being tracked, and, seemingly, as close-minded:
"It is not clear why more people appear to be suffering from back and neck pain," writes health reporter Tara Parker-Pope. "It could be because of rising obesity rates, researchers suggested. Or excessive treatment of back problems could lead to more problems."
More accurate it would be to say that it is not clear to tradition-bound western medical practitioners why more people appear to be suffering from back and neck pain. But to other experts--Dr. John Sarno among them--it's very clear. Our culture is in the midst of an epidemic of mind-body disorders. The back pain is largely psychogenic.
But that is not, apparently, for the Times to say, or even insinuate. Had the article left it an unaccountable mystery, we would have been better off. Instead, Parker-Pope passes along two suggestions from her medical sources that are, frankly, unscientific and borderline comical.
"Rising obesity rates"? Someone should tell that to *my* back. And note the ever-popular evasive attribution: "researchers suggested." The obesity witch hunt continues, and it is not, I don't think, unrelated to our medical establishment's inability to absorb the reality of an intimate mind-body connection. I'll save that for another post someday.
As for the second suggestion--the idea that "more people appear to be suffering from back and neck pain" because "excessive treatment of back problems could lead to more problems": um, well...huh? I can understand how excessive treatment of back problems could prolong existing conditions. But how could excessive treatment of people who already have back pain create more people with back pain? That was the original puzzle: "why more people appear to be suffering from back and neck pain."
That American doctors might actually think that this makes more sense than acknowledging the fact that our bodies and minds are connected and influence each other shows us, sadly, how far we yet have to go in moving mind-body medicine into the mainstream here in the U.S.
That's the first line in an article in Wednesday's New York Times, and that pretty much tells you the story.
As strong as the article is on statistics and evidence of the widespread problem, the Times remains as puzzled about it as the medical mainstream whose actions are being tracked, and, seemingly, as close-minded:
"It is not clear why more people appear to be suffering from back and neck pain," writes health reporter Tara Parker-Pope. "It could be because of rising obesity rates, researchers suggested. Or excessive treatment of back problems could lead to more problems."
More accurate it would be to say that it is not clear to tradition-bound western medical practitioners why more people appear to be suffering from back and neck pain. But to other experts--Dr. John Sarno among them--it's very clear. Our culture is in the midst of an epidemic of mind-body disorders. The back pain is largely psychogenic.
But that is not, apparently, for the Times to say, or even insinuate. Had the article left it an unaccountable mystery, we would have been better off. Instead, Parker-Pope passes along two suggestions from her medical sources that are, frankly, unscientific and borderline comical.
"Rising obesity rates"? Someone should tell that to *my* back. And note the ever-popular evasive attribution: "researchers suggested." The obesity witch hunt continues, and it is not, I don't think, unrelated to our medical establishment's inability to absorb the reality of an intimate mind-body connection. I'll save that for another post someday.
As for the second suggestion--the idea that "more people appear to be suffering from back and neck pain" because "excessive treatment of back problems could lead to more problems": um, well...huh? I can understand how excessive treatment of back problems could prolong existing conditions. But how could excessive treatment of people who already have back pain create more people with back pain? That was the original puzzle: "why more people appear to be suffering from back and neck pain."
That American doctors might actually think that this makes more sense than acknowledging the fact that our bodies and minds are connected and influence each other shows us, sadly, how far we yet have to go in moving mind-body medicine into the mainstream here in the U.S.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
The Mindbody Syndrome (Tension Myositis Syndrome)
While I have been interested in mind-body issues for many years, and have read widely in the field (such as it is), the immediate trigger for starting this blog has been my close encounter with a condition known as TMS. Originally TMS stood for tension myositis syndrome; there is a movement afoot to rename it The Mindbody Syndrome, which is more immediately understandable, and manages to salvage the acronym.
TMS is the name for the condition in which your mind converts deep emotional content into physical symptoms. The symptoms--and the pain and discomfort attendent with them-- are very real. Emotions can and do have a real, physical impact on the body.
And TMS makes far more sense than the explanations most American doctors offer for the sort of chronic back pain that is one hallmark of the condition. My MRI, for instance, revealed arthritis of the facet joints of the spine. This was therefore posited as the source of my pain.
The fact that arthritis of the facet joints is a degenerative condition associated with aging, and rather common, and not in fact the cause of any pain in most people who have it, didn't seem to matter. Neither did the fact that the pain I was experiencing managed to be in my hip a lot of the time, although it also tended to jump around from day to day, even moment to moment. All they could quantify was the arthritis. That was their story and they were sticking to it.
It would be one thing if medical people here could more readily acknowledge what they don't know. Instead, all too many of us are treated to arrogant--and ignorant--presumption. The first day I was in physical therapy, I made a tentative general statement about how I have had the idea that my back pain was part of something larger, how it was connected to what's been going on in my life for a long time. The physical therapist looked me in the eye and said, with the patronizing tone of a parent talking to a child: "Jeremy. This is a mechanical problem. We will fix it mechanically."
Is it really so outlandish for me to have suggested that my body could be influenced by strong emotional content in my life? Is the suggestion that the mind can influence and control the body in such a way as to cause physical symptoms really that far-fetched?
Haven't these folks ever seen anyone blush? Haven't any of them ever felt butterflies in their stomachs?
As for TMS, whole books have been written on the subject, starting with the pioneering work of Dr. John Sarno. Dr. Howard Schubiner--one of a handful of other MDs who supports this diagnosis and understands TMS--offers this concise description of what TMS is about:
"Your body is producing pain because it's manifesting unresolved stress, possibly from your childhood, or from stressful events in your adulthood, or from your present circumstances, and as a result of your personality traits (which affects how you respond to stress and how much pressure you tend to put upon yourself)."
At a certain level, it's that simple. But of course there's a lot going on within that description. I suggest watching Schubiner's instructive video on YouTube about TMS for more information.
And I promise not to turn this blog into a boring, ridiculous account of my own condition. But to the extent that my struggles with TMS highlights interesting aspects of the incontrovertible reality of the mind-body connection--and the way that informed doctors can actually work with it rather than ridicule the very idea--I will return to the subject as the story unfolds.
TMS is the name for the condition in which your mind converts deep emotional content into physical symptoms. The symptoms--and the pain and discomfort attendent with them-- are very real. Emotions can and do have a real, physical impact on the body.
And TMS makes far more sense than the explanations most American doctors offer for the sort of chronic back pain that is one hallmark of the condition. My MRI, for instance, revealed arthritis of the facet joints of the spine. This was therefore posited as the source of my pain.
The fact that arthritis of the facet joints is a degenerative condition associated with aging, and rather common, and not in fact the cause of any pain in most people who have it, didn't seem to matter. Neither did the fact that the pain I was experiencing managed to be in my hip a lot of the time, although it also tended to jump around from day to day, even moment to moment. All they could quantify was the arthritis. That was their story and they were sticking to it.
It would be one thing if medical people here could more readily acknowledge what they don't know. Instead, all too many of us are treated to arrogant--and ignorant--presumption. The first day I was in physical therapy, I made a tentative general statement about how I have had the idea that my back pain was part of something larger, how it was connected to what's been going on in my life for a long time. The physical therapist looked me in the eye and said, with the patronizing tone of a parent talking to a child: "Jeremy. This is a mechanical problem. We will fix it mechanically."
Is it really so outlandish for me to have suggested that my body could be influenced by strong emotional content in my life? Is the suggestion that the mind can influence and control the body in such a way as to cause physical symptoms really that far-fetched?
Haven't these folks ever seen anyone blush? Haven't any of them ever felt butterflies in their stomachs?
As for TMS, whole books have been written on the subject, starting with the pioneering work of Dr. John Sarno. Dr. Howard Schubiner--one of a handful of other MDs who supports this diagnosis and understands TMS--offers this concise description of what TMS is about:
"Your body is producing pain because it's manifesting unresolved stress, possibly from your childhood, or from stressful events in your adulthood, or from your present circumstances, and as a result of your personality traits (which affects how you respond to stress and how much pressure you tend to put upon yourself)."
At a certain level, it's that simple. But of course there's a lot going on within that description. I suggest watching Schubiner's instructive video on YouTube about TMS for more information.
And I promise not to turn this blog into a boring, ridiculous account of my own condition. But to the extent that my struggles with TMS highlights interesting aspects of the incontrovertible reality of the mind-body connection--and the way that informed doctors can actually work with it rather than ridicule the very idea--I will return to the subject as the story unfolds.
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