Doctor Sarno:
Journaling
Journaling can be enormously beneficial for your mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. Randomly jotting down your thoughts in a notebook won ’t do much though, you need a method. Fortunately, Dr. Sarno found a specific way of journaling successfully.
In the early 1970s, Dr. John Sarno worked at NYU Medical Center where he specialized in treating chronic pain. He noticed that many of his patients were not improving, and began to doubt the effectiveness of conventional treatments for these conditions.
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My early work in the diagnosis and treatment of back, neck, and shoulder pain syndromes was decidedly unpleas ant and frustrating. The conventional diagnoses and conservative (nonsurgical) treatment methods yielded disappointing and inconsistent results.
John Sarno
After recovering from a recurring migraine it became apparent to Dr. Sarno that pain and other symptoms were the result of a process that begins in the subconscious mind.
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For a number of years I had experienced regular migraine headaches, complete with typical visual "lights" prior to the onset of headache. Someone suggested that repressed anger might be the basis for them. The next time I had the "lights" harbinger of a headache - I sat down and tried to think of what anger I might be repressing. I failed to find an answer, but for the first time in my life I didn't get a headache. It was powerful evidence that migraine headache was caused by emotional phenomena.
John Sarno
He hypothesized that other symptoms might also be emotionally induced and when he put the idea to the test, by telling his patients that he thought their pain was the result of "tension," he was astonished to notice that those who accepted the diagnosis got better, and those who rejected it remained unchanged.
He decided to call those maladies that he believed were psychogenic (emotionally induced) Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS). “Myositis” means physiological alteration of muscles.
Dr. Sarno decided to look deeper and found three things that most of his patients had in common:
(1) They tended to be perfectionists or what he termed “goodists,” two traits associated with suppressed anger. A perfectionist is hardworking, conscientious, responsible, achievement oriented, and above all a worrier. A "goodist” is a person who has a compulsion to please, to be a good person, to be nice. A goodist avoids confrontation and is always willing to help someone, even if it means self-sacrifice.
(2) He found that 88 percent of his patients had a history of stress related illnesses such as migraines, hernias, heartburn, ulcers, hiatus hernia, colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, eczema and frequent urination.
(3) There was not always a physical explanation for the pain, such as a torn ligament or ruptured disk.
The Role of the Subconscious Mind
Building off of this information he realized that it was actually the subconscious mind that was causin g the physical symptoms. In an era of rampant Freud bashing Dr. Sarno turned to Freud for an answer.
Freud had noticed that there were three parts to the mind: the superego, the ego and the id. Or head, heart, and hara as I like to call them. Sarno preferred the terminology of Transactional psychoanalysts who referred to the three parts of the mind as parent, adult and child.
The parent is that part of the mind that tells us what is right and wrong, how we must behave and act morally and ethically.
The adult is the mediator, the executive, the captain of the ship. Its role is to keep us functioning optimally and protect us from danger.
Then there is the child, and like a real child, it is dependent, irresponsible, charming, irrational and fun loving, but unlike a real child, perpetually angry.
While the parent resides mostly in the conscious mind, the child is almost always found in the subconscious mind. There is a constant conflict going on between the two.
Rage in the Subconscious
Sarno believed that rage in the unconscious came from three sources: a nger generated in childhood that has never dissipated, self-imposed stress that has accumulated due to a perfectionist or uptight personality, and reactions to the real pressures of everyday life.
Throughout their lives people encounter unpleasant situations that make them angry, but instead of facing these situations and releasing the anger some of them bottle it up. This anger then builds and builds and over time turns into suppressed rage. To distract themselves from this rage hidden within they may become hardworking, conscientious, and perfectionist as a way to distract themselves from this rage.
When this rage reaches a critical level it threatens to become conscious, so the brain creates a hernia, back pain, or some other symptom as a distraction to prevent a violent emotional explosion.
Journaling
Dr. Sarno found that all his patients had to do to stop their symptoms was to become aware of their origin. Once the hidden emotions become conscious the brain has no need to distract with pain or other symptoms.
To thwart the brain's strategy to protect you from rage Sarno encourage patients to do three things. Firstly, discard the "physical" reason for the pain, secondly, acknowledge the psychological explanation for the pain as normal, and thirdly, continue a normal life.
Discard the Structural Diagnosis
The pain will not stop unless you are able to say, "I have a normal (insert body part), and I now know that my (insert symptom) is a harmless condition initiated by my brain to serve a psychological purpose. The structural abnormalities that have been found on X ray, CT scan or MRI are normal changes associated with activity and aging."
This initial realization is essential to thwart the brain's strategy, which is to keep your attention firmly fixed on your body and unaware of the threatening feelings in your unconscious.
Body/Mind Journaling
Dr. Sarno suggests setting aside 15 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening to journal about the possible causes of your depression or anxiety. Sit down and think about these feelings deeply to bring them from the unconscious into the conscious. When your thoughts reach the subconscious the brain will stop its protective mechanisms. There are a number of possible sources of these feelings:
past experiences
In your notebook make a list of all the experiences that happened in your past that made you feel angry, hurt, humiliated, anxious or depressed. This may include such things as being bullied, rejected, insulted, or feeling unloved.
current pressures
List anything that causes pressure: your job, your studies, your social life, your partner, your parents, your children, your health, or any other major problems in your life.
personality traits
Add the personality traits you may have that could contribute to your emotional pain: you expect too much of yourself, you drive yourself to be perfect, you have a strong need to please people, you want people to like you, you fall in love too easily, etc.
Once you have completed your list write an essay about each one. You can do this over several days or even months if you need to. It is vital that the information reaches the subconscious so here are some tips on how to get there:
Journaling Tips
tip one. vivid
Try to picture each experience as clearly and vividly as you can and write about it as if it’s happening now. The longer and more descriptive your essays the more likely they will penetrate the subconscious mind.
tip two. free flowing
A pen or pencil may be better for you than typing because they allow you to express yourself better, and you can easily doodle and draw pictures. There is no need to write neatly or even legibly. Don’t worry about spelling or grammar. If you make a mistake don’t go to the trouble of erasing it, just cross it out and continue..
tip three. language
Write from your heart and not your head. The head is like a professor giving a lecture, using formal language and proper grammar, he takes a detached and impartial approach as he speaks of past and future events. The heart on the other hand, uses casual expressions and is anchored in the present.
Doctor Sarno's books and one more
I strongly suggest reading one of Dr. Sarno’s four incredible books: Healing Back Pain, Mind Over Back Pain, The Mindbody Prescription, or my particular favorite The Divided Mind. I you want some light reading please try my picture book, Emma Meets Dr. Sarno.
This book is one of my most precious possessions. My dogeared copy is underlined and full of notes from cover to cover. I bought it on while living in a small town in Japan.
Mindbody Prescription
One of the most important aspects of psychosomatic phenomena is that knowledge and awareness of the process clearly have healing powers. Thousands of people have become pain-free simply by reading Dr. Sarno's previous books. How and why this happens is a fascinating story, and is revealed in The Divided Mind.
Although the Divided Mind is the most influential book I feel that the Mindbody prescription is a better book. I have a kindle copy and found the Divided mind a heavier read and more intellectual. The Mindbody prescription describes Doctor Sarno's ideas in an earlier to understand way.
I'd like to introduce this delightful little book about Doctor Sarno's work. It's mine.
I’m Dr. Rodger Douglas, DMH, a South African-born homeopath now based in Osaka, Japan. With a psychology degree from Nelson Mandela University and a diploma from the Hahnemann College of Heilkunst, I specialize in holistic care for fibromyalgia. I serve clients by phone or video across the US, Canada, and the UK.