Are You Traumatized from Your Chronic Pain or Illness?

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@erinm9445 7 ай бұрын

I started seeing a wonderful trauma therapist when I was in a period of near-remission from my chronic symptoms, about four years ago. I had three major sources of trauma I wanted to process, two from childhood, and the third being the ongoing trauma of living with chronic illness (CFS for a decade and a half at that time, starting from when I was in my mid-twenties--so most of my adult life). While I'm sure that the childhood traumas are part of why I developed a chronic condition to begin with, I felt really clearly that the chronic illness trauma was the most present and pressing, since it had been so recent and for such a long time. But my therapist, though great in so many ways--and certainly sympathetic that being a chronic illness sufferer sucked for me--just did not get it in terms of years of chronic illness being a source of significant trauma in and of itself. She never invalidated or pushed back on me directly on this topic, but she never wanted to discuss it or take it on, she would sort of gloss over it, which was plenty invalidating in and of itself--not to mention frustrating. I tried explaining many times, and just couldn't get any traction. It had been so hard to find a therapist that I generally liked and thought was good, that I decided to stick with her anyway, but this was always a splinter for me. It was like she didn't really believe that this was a traumatizing thing--though when my symptoms worsened again later and she saw for herself how my life changed, I do think she started to get it a little more. I'm so glad I've found the mind-body approach to chronic symptoms though, it brings so many different disparate, confusing things about my experience into a whole that finally makes sense, and lets everything fall into place. Personally, for me, I don't feel that I need/want a therapist to help me process the chronic illness trauma, I feel like this work, and developing connections with other people in this community, are what I need to heal emotionally as well as physically. Thanks for all you do!

@painpsychotherapy 7 ай бұрын

So sorry to hear what you are going through. I'm so glad you found a Mind-body approach! Keep going!

@nothingspecial598 7 ай бұрын

This was extraordinarily validating, thank you for saying this out loud. I have started to feel hope and implement some of these strategies, but my hyper vigilance is still very much present for a lot of these reasons

@painpsychotherapy 7 ай бұрын

We are so glad it was helpful. Keep going!

@Bee-mi8ml 7 ай бұрын

This is 100% me to a tee. Your story resonates with me. It wasn't the initial symptoms, although disturbing, but the failure of the medical system and the progression of the symptoms, which kept expanding, that eventually put me in a sensitized and dorsal state. 15 years I have been housebound. I heard about the mind body connection a year ago and I am slowly trying to desensitize my nervous system, and I am realizing how trapped it is. It doesn't seem to know any other response, which makes me feel sad, for it, which is weird, like it is separate from me. I give myself a lot of hugs and compassion, but the emotions are locked up tight. It's the trauma of the experience versus the symptoms themselves that have put me here, for sure.

@painpsychotherapy 7 ай бұрын

I'm so sorry to hear what you have been through. I hope my content can be helpful!

@simonejohnson8794 7 ай бұрын

It's very sad to hear that your beloved cat, M Cat died. No matter how long our animals have lived when they die, it’s always so tough to bear. Condolences to you both. 🕊️ Thanks for another very helpful talk- I always love listening to the two of you, even when you’re discussing difficult topics. Your content is always helpful and you both always make me smile. ☺️

@painpsychotherapy 7 ай бұрын

Thanks for your support. We are so glad our content is helpful.

@carwin39 7 ай бұрын

Great info! I have my backpain over 20 years, and now I am realizing, that the onset of the pain was a traumatic event! I remember even the date an the time when it began out of the blue! You are talking about the downplaying of the symptoms. Did you hear the term „gaslighting“ or „medical gaslighting“? The people around me just played my symptoms down („…everybody has something…“ , „its normal, dont take it so serious…“). These external voice became internal voices over the time. I think these internal voices are part of the traumatic reaction of the nervoussystem. Wow! There is so much work to do in the field of chronic pain! And there is so much information missing in the „normal“ medical health system. Thank you for bringing this out!

@painpsychotherapy 7 ай бұрын

I'm so sorry to hear what you have been through. I hope my content can be helpful!

@sarahbookout2513 6 ай бұрын

I have been analyzing my pain in a new way, with this in mind, just to figure out where to begin in my mind body healing. I suffered for years with a Morton's Neuroma. Every step hurt. The doctor said I just needed shoe inserts and that it was probably my gait, or a fallen arch. I spent 8 years battling that. Went to multiple doctors. Over that 8 years I started to get unexplained pain in other places, leading to more hyper-fixing. I went to physical therapy multiple times to try to get better and avoid surgery and got over 10 shots in my foot. Again and again I was told that people can do certain things to feel better and not to have surgery. That does something to a person's brain. I became hypervigalent in fixing it. I finally had surgery. It took a year for my foot to feel better. My new doctor said it was so big when he saw it, nothing but surgery would have fixed it. Now I've just got to get my brain and the rest of my body to believe that it is OK and calm down. It has led to a mistrust of doctors. Also, a mistrust of myself and my ability to know the difference in injury pain that should be addressed and chronic hyperstimulated pain. I have been learning a lot from your videos.

@painpsychotherapy 6 ай бұрын

I'm so sorry to hear what you have been through. I wish you the best in your healing. I hope my content can be helpful for you!

@mjoachim9554 7 ай бұрын

Oh man do I feel for you. When I was at the height of my anxiety, panic attacks galore, I’ve never felt so disconnected to who I am nor could I talk to anyone about it. My own family members would tell me that’s all I ever talk about. Or I was no fun anymore. Or I got comments like…the year I turned weird. These are people who are supposed to care about me the most. Theee most hellish time of my life. Then what followed for years later was the bodily breakdown. My muscles were to tight, I had two very bad pulls in my back. So bad, like you Tanner, I could barely walk. Took a year to heal. Then my thumb went weak and the pains in my neck and hand were next in line after my back started to get better I’ve dealt with a million different healers. And it’s frustrating beyond. No one has any solid answers.

@painpsychotherapy 7 ай бұрын

So sorry to hear about your symptoms. I hope my content is helpful!

@thelaceygirl 7 ай бұрын

So sorry for your loss ❤😢

@painpsychotherapy 7 ай бұрын

Thanks for your support!

@picksoverpeas 2 ай бұрын

Excellent topic and video! I can wholeheartedly relate to what you discussed and am so glad you brought this topic to light.

@painpsychotherapy 2 ай бұрын

We are so glad it was helpful!

@edwinaastley6421 7 ай бұрын

Firstly, sorry to hear about MCat. I love the honesty. It’s refreshing. This is literally I think one of the most important topics and I think this is perhaps what has been holding me back. I have never taken the time to validate my experience. I will Now, thank you. Also a penny dropped, I’ve always wondered why I need to share my experience/where I’m at, all the time with my husband. I couldn’t work out why I was doing it. Im not complaining per se, it’s just that I want him to know where I am at and after listening to this it all made sense for me. I think I’ve been trying to share the daily trauma of suffering. I was almost hating myself for doing it. It didn’t feel good but now I think you have shed some light for me on why I do it… I feel happier today. You have lightened the load - thank you 🤩

@painpsychotherapy 7 ай бұрын

So sorry to hear what you are dealing with. We are so glad out content is helpful. I wish you the best in your healing!

@eileen945 7 ай бұрын

Hello from Az, Awe… I have been through the grief of losing our beloved pets quite a few times. I developed what I call my bereavement basket in which I place their ashes in a basket of white flowers so I can have them near me all the time. ❤ This video has enlightened me! I Believe this is a “ HUGE” piece of this puzzling puzzle for me and would love to learn more about how to work with this part. I actually had a kinda of “ healing” 2 years ago and went for 6 weeks without any symptom. Then… several scary scary incidents happened ( including in the hospital for 2 weeks alone with the VIRUS) my body went back into trauma mode…. And every thing was worse. It has confused me intensively. Since 2018 I have gradually come to know that I have trauma… grief.. abandonment etc etc, and have worked hard At FACING all of these issues. And I still do this inner work- I’m ….. better, but still have loads of debilitating days. I have said this out loud a few times to myself🤔🤔 “ I feel traumatized with all this in my body” ( I have the complicated dizziness thing) and never know how to work with it from there. I can’t afford therapy so I will be a grateful student and keep watching for guidance and help with this. I actually felt BETTER the minute you validated this for me. IN GRATITUDE 🙏

@painpsychotherapy 7 ай бұрын

I'm so sorry to hear what you are going through. I'm so glad my content is helpful!

@carolinelawrie7142 7 ай бұрын

I'm so sorry that you have lost your friend and companion MCAT. Losing a beloved pet is one of the worst traumas 😢 I hope that it helped you both to talk about it today ❤❤❤

@painpsychotherapy 7 ай бұрын

Thanks for your support!

@hilpei3675 7 ай бұрын

Yes, and I just lost my cat baby, Ellie, too, after 17 years. And I'm traumatized from too many healthcare interventions, failed surgery, unusual symptoms. Sensitization trauma sounds accurate.... prolonged!

@painpsychotherapy 7 ай бұрын

Thanks for your support. I'm so sorry to hear what you are going through. I'm so glad my content is helpful!