What if your Chronic “Illness” Diagnosis is making you worse?
Right at this very moment, hundreds of thousands of people are looking for a diagnosis to explain their chronic pain or symptoms. A diagnosis can initially bring you clarity and even a dose of relief, as you finally understand what’s going on in your body - at least on a biological level.
But did you know that in the long term, some diagnoses can do more harm than good? This is what I’d like to explain in this post: I’d like to encourage chronic sufferers not to identify with their diagnosis to the point that it becomes a part of their identity - because when this happens, true recovery may become literally impossible.
A new ‘wave’ of diagnoses - but what if symptoms are still neuroplastic?
Today, I keep seeing new diagnoses being thrown around at chronic pain sufferers. Both in my experience working with clients who have chronic symptoms, as well as from what I’m exposed to on social media, it seems like diagnoses also follow the ‘trend of the day’. For instance, nowadays more people are being diagnosed with POTS and nervous system dysfunction than ever before.
One particular post remains vivid in my mind: a mother was deeply shocked that her daughter had been diagnosed with nervous system dysfunction, which she suffers from herself. Because of this diagnosis, she believed that they had both inherited this illness, and that there isn’t much they can do about it besides manage the symptoms.
Needless to say, I felt frustrated just reading this. The diagnosis itself implied that the nervous system wasn’t working as it should, and yet the patients were not told that this can happen due to psychological occurrences, and not just biological ones. And that’s exactly the problem with many diagnoses these days: They focus on highlighting the biological implications of a condition, without asking this very important question: but what actually caused these biological changes in the first place?
So let’s get this straight: just because there are unwanted biological changes going on in your body, this doesn’t mean that these changes occurred ‘out of the blue’ or due to some inherited illness. If you haven’t been born this way, and symptoms developed later on in life, chances are still high that your symptoms are neuroplastic. And your diagnosis may be keeping you blindfolded to this liberating truth.
The dangerous implication behind modern-day diagnoses
Now let me explain why I’m so against certain diagnoses. It’s not because getting diagnosed is bad in itself. In fact, in certain situations, these diagnoses can be life-saving, as they lead to the correct intervention for serious diseases. The danger lies in the implications that come along with certain diagnoses, especially the diagnoses that are really referring to conditions that are being caused due to distress and nervous system dysregulation: such as fibromyalgia, dysautonomia and the like.
Let’s take dysautonomia as an example. This is a “general term for disorders that disrupt your autonomic nervous system (ANS). It can describe several disorders, each with varying symptoms” (Cleveland Clinic).
Of course, being versed in TMS immediately tells me that the ‘varying symptoms’ are due to dysregulation and neuroplastic activity. When someone has multiple symptoms that vary from day to day, that’s already a red flag: but a ‘good’ red flag for those who know something about neuroplastic symptoms. It means that these processes are driven by something else, and that they can be reversed.
The problem with a diagnosis such as dysautonomia is that it is made to sound as if the person has a specific illness. And let’s face it, many diagnoses sound pretty serious and scary. Few doctors and specialists are actually qualified to go into why certain symptoms have developed. Most stop at explaining biological processes without encouraging the patient to think about what may have triggered these biological changes in the first place.
And if you’re wondering what that is, I’ll tell you right now: it’s deep emotional distress, some of which is repressed. It’s because your body has been in a chronic state of fight, flight or freeze, because your unconscious thinks you need protection. Your body has been working in overdrive, trying to cope with various threats: financial insecurity, relationship issues, isolation, toxic work or family environments - the list goes on. For this reason, your nervous system isn’t able to regulate as it should. You go about your day feeling insecure and on guard. Maybe you don’t sleep well. You ruminate constantly. And on top of it all, you think you’re broken. And that also sets you to war against your own body.
You get the gist of it. There is almost always some amount of distress behind any symptom that develops. Yes, even if that symptom is physical, and even if it could be life-threatening. Just think back to your own symptoms, and stay honest. Are you sure nothing happened to shock, trouble or distress you in the months or years before these developed?
Unfortunately, very few people actually think along these lines. Most of them identify with their diagnosis instead, and start chasing treatments without actually tackling the root causes. Although well-intentioned, this almost always leads to chronicity, helplessness and worsened symptoms.
Do yourself a favour: Stop identifying with your diagnosis.
A diagnosis isn’t a life-sentence. It’s simply a way to explain what’s going on physiologically in your body right now. However, what if that physiological phenomenon is just a consequence of something else?
If you assume a diagnosis as a part of your life, you risk building a sort of ‘relationship’ with your symptoms. You’ll use your diagnosis as a way to explain to others why you feel a certain way. And although it can feel good to elicit compassion, every time you say “I have '[Fibromyalgia] or [POTS]” or whatever diagnosis you’ve been given, you are also reminding your brain that you have a permanent problem. And the brain takes that quite literally.
I’m not encouraging you to try and lie to yourself here, or to bypass all treatments - please don’t do that if the treatment can help alleviate your symptoms! Instead, I’d encourage you to also look at the objective truth: you have symptoms right now. Sometimes these symptoms may change or fluctuate. You didn’t have them in the past, and you might not have them in future. Don’t make them permanent through your expectations. Because your expectations, assumptions and worries can actually signal danger to the brain, and that’s how symptoms keep getting re-activated.
Aiming towards Recovery: Why the TMS approach remains the most powerful (in my humble opinion!)
Of course, this gets me to most people’s burning question when they start to realize that their symptoms have a psychological element: So what do I do to get better?
In my experience, the first step is always to recognize that your symptoms are simply a protective response. Uncomfortable as they are, it’s because your body is trying to protect you in some way. Sometimes your body brings you pain to keep you from making an injury worse - and this pain will be temporary. But most of the time, if symptoms are chronic, it’s because deep down, something is NOT okay.
From the recovery stories that I’ve heard, and the hundreds of clients I’ve coached, I have always found that the most important shift for most has been to recognize that their body is not permanently broken, and to start to ditch their identity as chronic symptom sufferers. The TMS / neuroplastic approach to chronic symptoms is the one that explains this concept the in the best manner, and is, in my opinion, the most effective. That’s because it does away with the extras and encourages people to go right to the core of the issue: their own emotional distress, their thought patterns, the beliefs and habits that are contributing to maintaining their symptoms. This is the way forward if you’re looking into how to fix a dysregulated nervous system.
The way out may consist of many twist and turns, and people find different practices helpful. However, whatever practice you choose, the important thing is that it helps you shift your mindset in some way, to start befriending your body and help you let go of your fears. It’s about deciding that you can reverse your symptoms, and believing that you can get back to good health, no matter what others have told you. And yes, that includes the doctor who diagnosed you.
Ready to take charge of your own health?
I hope that this article as inspired you in some way. If you’ve found it triggering or infuriating, that’s ok too. It likely means you’re not at this stage in your journey yet. My hope is that those who are willing to open up to the potential of full recovery will find it easier to do so.
And one last reminder: you don’t need to have it all figured out yet. Just being open is enough, and the insights will start coming to you bit by bit. If you’d like to learn more, you’ll find plenty of resources on this website, as well as from the hundreds of other TMS Coaches and mindbody practitioners out there. You’re going to figure this out, I promise!