The Divided Mind: The Epidemic of Mindbody Disorders

[Ollie]

First of all, I would like to thank Gandalf for introducing me to this book. Thank you.

Dr Sarno’s latest book, The Divided Mind goes into more depth and detail than in his two previous books (Healing Back Pain and The Mindbody Prescription) tracing the roots of Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS), dealing with the psychology, the physical manifestations, and effective approaches to healing.

This is the blurb about the book from Amazon:

“The book that will change the way we think about health and illness, The Divided Mind is the crowning achievement of Dr. John E. Sarno's distinguished career as a groundbreaking medical pioneer, going beyond pain to address the entire spectrum of psychosomatic (mindbody) disorders.”

“Dr Sarno traces the roots of mindbody disorders by exploring the interaction between the generally reasonable, rational, ethical and moral conscious mind and the repressed feelings of emotional pain, hurt, sadness, and anger characteristic of the unconscious mind. The failure of medicine's practitioners to recognise and appropriately treat mindbody disorders has produced public health and economic problems of major proportions. "The Divided Mind" outlines the history of psychosomatic medicine, including Freud's crucial role, and describes the psychology responsible for the broad range of psychosomatic illness. Arguing that knowledge and awareness of psychosomatic phenomena clearly have healing powers, "The Divided Mind" reveals how and why thousands of people have become pain-free simply by following Dr Sarno's revolutionary advice.”

Dr Sarno is the author and the writer of the introduction and four chapters, and there are six chapters by other Doctors, using the basis of his methods in their practices, giving their experiences, and those of their patients (both of those taking their advice and those who didn’t), in using the method for dealing with various psychosomatic problems, ranging from abnormalities of the intervertebral disc due to wear and tear, aging, etc.; abnormalities of other spinal bone elements, referred to as spondylosis;
through to soft tissue disorders, such as, myofascial pain; strained back and neck muscles; buttock pain; pain and other dental abnormalities; tendon pain (eg, tennis elbow); wear and tear of rotor cuffs; pain in the sole and heel of the foot; carpel tunnel syndrome; and fibromyalgia;
to other conditions such as, gastroesophageal reflux; peptic ulcer; esophagspasm; hiatus hernia, IBS, spastic colitis; tension and migraine headaches; frequent urination; prostatitis and sexual dysfunction; and tinnitus.

It has certainly created, several, aha! moments for me. I have found the book extremely helpful in explaining the reason for my lack of conscious, transitory emotions, and how I have repressed emotions causing the pains (many of those given above) that I have felt, specifically more recently and through my life. It provides a blueprint for dealing with repressed emotions to overcome pain. I am following his plan of action for “resumption of full physical activity, the emergence of a more emotionally healthy life, [and becoming a] more peaceful person who sees new paths towards greater personal fulfilment.”

To get a feel for the book, here are a few excerpts:

… in the fifth psychogenic group, psychosomatic disorders, the brain induces actual physical changes in the body. An example of this would be tension myositis syndrome (TMS), a painful disorder … in this condition, the brain orders a reduction of blood flow to a specific part of the body resulting in mild oxygen deprivation, which causes pain and other symptoms, depending on what tissues have been oxygen deprived.

… the cause of pain, TMS, serves the purpose of primary gain, that is, to prevent the conscious mind from becoming aware of unconscious feelings like rage or emotional pain.

… rage in the unconscious mind is central to understanding virtually all psychosomatic reactions.

… many repressed feelings and impulses simply cannot be brought to consciousness. It is through rage, narcissism, sadness, and feelings of dependency or inferiority are permanent residence of the unconscious.

It is likely that feelings of low self-regard are also enhanced when the developing infant child compares itself to the giants around it.

My own experience with psychosomatic disorders adds still another dimension to the superego’s influence: you must not only be moral, you must be a saint. You must be perfect and good.

… being pressurised to be a responsible adult. The result may be emotional pain, sadness, anger, and culminately, rage. To the pain and anger generated in childhood, we now add the emotions arising from the conflict between the residual child-primitive in all of us and the pressures imposed by life – personal relationships, job, social obligations and so on.

The heart of the psychosomatic process is to keep painful and dangerous emotions repressed and hidden in the unconscious, because these are emotions that would wreak havoc were they allowed to become conscious.

… in perpetual ever-increasing unconscious hurt, suffering from a combination of emotional pain, sadness, and rage dating back to early childhood …

… the twin characteristics of perfectionism and goodism are major factors in the genesis of TMS … and that those same characteristics are enraging to something in the unconscious.

The decision maker in the brain has decided that the overt expression of unbridled rage would ruin a person’s life, and to prevent that from happening, it automatically initiates physical symptoms in the body without consulting the conscious rational mind.

… three important things about the psychosomatic process:

1. That physical symptoms … are a reaction to the unconscious mental emotional phenomena.
2. That these unconsciously generated feelings are repressed as a matter of self-preservation.
3. That becoming aware of them can lead to a “cure.”

That sadness, emotional pain and rage are unconscious reactions to these sets of emotions:

1. Those resulting from the experiences of infancy, childhood, and adolescence.
2. Those based on responses to the child-primitive in each of us, that is, to both self-imposed pressures, and the pr4essures of life.
3. Those due to a miscellaneous group of unconscious emotions.

The child-primitive … the anatomical persistence of the “old brain” … and all behavioural characteristics that are, so to speak, contained in it, is of immense importance not only socially, politically, and medically, but psychologically as well. It is the part of the brain whose inclinations are in direct conflict with the more responsible, intelligent, moral propensities of the “new brain.”

… the psychosomatic process does not allow us a choice. The threat to the ego must seem mortal and the intellect is not permitted to participate in the decision. It is bypassed. The go acts decisively and swiftly, and induces symptoms. It will not be denied.

“What you need in order to get better, my friend,” I said, “is not a leap of faith but a leap of understanding.”

That is the heart of treating psychosomatic disorders.

Another crucial therapeutic element became clear as well: the person must not only understand the nature of the process but be able to fully accept nit as well. Not faith, but acceptance of the idea is essential … acceptance and acknowledgement produce permanent results. [NB] In addition to creating pain, the psyche increases doubt – the better to keep the syndrome going.

… knowledge is the ultimate component for recovery from TMS. In order to get the brain to stop the psychosomatic process, they must:
Repudiate the physical-structure explanation for the pain and attribute it instead to the benign altered physiology, the physical-emotional basis of TMS;
Recognise that the pain is a reaction to a physiological state and that the tendency to have the physical reactions of TMS and its equivalents is universal and a normal component of everyday life.

It is essential to establish the fact that nothing will change symptomatically unless there two conditions are met. This follows from the fact that the process of symptoms is to divert attention from unconscious emotional phenomena. If patients denigrate the physical symptoms and focus instead on psychological, they have effectively undermined the unconscious brain’s strategy. … The acquired information apparently induces a positive reaction in the unconscious since the unconsciously generated symptoms cease.

This program is designed to stop the brain from producing pain because it fears that the rage, emotional pain, and sadness will manifest itself and be felt consciously if it doesn’t do something to distract you. You must sit down and think about [the emotional things of importance in your life] every day. This is the way ideas get from your conscious mind to your unconscious mind. That’s where they have to get in order for the brain to stop the process.

Don’t give up. You have to put time and effort to make this work.

Try not to pay attention to your pain. When you find yourself thinking about it, force yourself to think about the psychological things in your life.

Our psychological program involves examining the effects and interactions of psychological factors min the body and then connecting patient’s emotions with their physical reactions. The major emphasis in our treatment is to uncover defences and the repressing effects. Since behavioural inhibition, repression, and the effects of disclosure have been found to be interconnected with physical processes, this method of treatment appears particularly well suited as treatment for these patients.

People with TMS need to be able to experience themselves in the act of repression of an emotion. This experience allows them to work, such that they can begin to embrace different emotions and facilitate healing.

The beauty of the TMS diagnosis is that it is a hopeful one that can result in a true cure. The treatment leads to resumption of full physical activity, the emergence of a more emotionally healthy life, more peaceful person who sees new paths towards greater personal fulfilment.

… the unconscious mind is the site of repressed and suppressed emotions. It is also where the reservoir of rage lurks [and that is a reservoir that is constantly filling].

A strategy of the brain to keep unpleasant thoughts and emotions from rising from the unconscious into the conscious mind. The brain through established physiological pathways, creates pain as a distraction.

By focusing our attention on physical symptoms, we keep these painful thoughts and emotions repressed. This is a very effective strategy, as there is an absolute epidemic of mindbody disorders in our society.

Eliminating pain is startingly simple. We can banish the pain and thwart the brain’s strategy by simple understanding and accepting that the pain has a psychological causation, that it is not physically based.

… it is important not to be discouraged if symptoms arise during the cause of an activity. It simply means that more mental work must be done.

Tell your brain that you are onto its game, that you know about the reservoir of rage. Like Dorothy discovering the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain, you won’t be fooled!

And, that last paragraph very aptly sums up the process!

 

[Jacques]

First of all, I would like to thank Gandalf for introducing me to this book. Thank you.

So happy that it could help you.

I just shared something that someone else had shared with me.

 

[3DStudent]

Thanks for the suggestion. This one seems to have struck a chord with me. Specifically about repressed rage and unconscious pain coming through the body. I'll add it to my wishlist.

 

[beetlemaniac]

I browsed through the book on Amazon -- there are some very tantalizing bits of info contained here! I think this can give further basis to how the predator's mind works, through distraction, by creating diversions (psychogenic) that prevent the psyche from experiencing what needs to be experienced in life.

Though he mainly talks about pain as being the main psychogenic, I think the distractions from the heart of the matter (the repressed emotions that are unwanted and deemed too dangerous, compromising and inappropriate by the superego) can manifest as thought-loops, constant worrying, and general neurotic behaviour. He did mention somewhere in the book that neuroticism is a constant fact of life for human beings. However, this is not the case for psychopaths, as we all know, they have a defective instinctive substratum that allows them to not have any inner conflict.

I also read about the case of the 28 year old engineer, with back pain, who was in a consultation session with him. The young man had first complained about the issue of pain. Then he started speaking about Dr. Sarno's writing on the causes of this pain and consequently had an a-ha moment, where the thought that "I really hate my job" just came to him. Immediately after, his pain disappeared. This, I thought, was such a great highlight of how Knowledge is so important in helping one become aware of these subconscious emotions.

By the way, this book was also mentioned in this thread, and also in the podcast mentioned in this thread, if I'm not mistaken:
The Health and Wellness Show - 28 Aug 2015 - The Mind-Body Connection

 

[Ollie]

Though he mainly talks about pain as being the main psychogenic, I think the distractions from the heart of the matter (the repressed emotions that are unwanted and deemed too dangerous, compromising and inappropriate by the superego) can manifest as thought-loops, constant worrying, and general neurotic behaviour. He did mention somewhere in the book that neuroticism is a constant fact of life for human beings. However, this is not the case for psychopaths, as we all know, they have a defective instinctive substratum that allows them to not have any inner conflict.

It is a seeming paradox: the pain symptoms created by the 'primitive-child' in the unconscious mind, which, consciously we deplore, are generated for out protection. It is a strategy to keep 'repressed emotions' and associated repressed thoughts from arising from the unconscious mind into the conscious mind. Pain is created as a distraction by the brain through established physiologic pathways. When we are focusing on the pain, the physical symptoms, we keep the painful thoughts and emotions repressed.

We are able to banish the pain by thwarting the 'primitive-child' in the unconscious mind; just by a simple strategy of understanding and accepting that the pain has a psychological cause only, and that the physical pain is merely an effect that can be overcome.

This may help, or not.

 

[987baz]

I just finished reading this book, thanks for the thread and info :) an interesting read for sure.

The idea that repressed emotions are too painful for us to deal with, so the we get physical pain instead does make sense to me, and seems to tie in with another book I am reading at the moment called In an Unspoken Voice, see thread here https://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,23581.0.html