But I really do have a chronic disease!

Totally normal—I thought the same thing. After all, I’d had surgery for a herniated disc, so every bit of pain I felt in that area had to be linked to that injury.  And any pain that surfaced afterward?  I could always trace it back to that original issue.  I became a master at connecting my symptoms!

 And the doctors?  They diagnosed rheumatoïd arthritis and spondylosis.  So all the pains that followed, I neatly placed in the category of rheumatic suffering.

But here’s the amazing thing about the human body: it has an incredible ability to heal itself. Think about cuts, fractures, or infections. One person might be completely pain-free after back surgery, while another experiences ongoing pain after the same procedure.  
One experiences lingering pain after a hip operation, while someone else does not.

Why is that?

Important to know 

Not all types of pain are the same. Some pain, like chemo pain (pain caused by chemotherapy), arises from clear damage to the body, such as nerve damage. This type of pain cannot simply be “thought away” or resolved through mental techniques.

But there is a type of pain that occurs without clear tissue damage. This includes tension-related pain or Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS), as described by Dr. John Sarno. This type of pain is often influenced by repressed emotions, stress, or unconscious tensions in the body.

In my book, I focus on this psychosomatic pain, where the brain and nervous system play a significant role. This is the kind of pain you can understand, influence, and reduce through insight, awareness, and new ways of thinking and feeling.

Psychosomatic pain means that pain can arise, for example, when you’re stressed or tired, or that the pain doesn't always present itself in the same way.
Maybe you experience pain while on vacation, while for someone else, being on vacation is exactly when they are pain-free.
It must be the salty sea air—yes, maybe—but have you noticed that your emotions are different when you're on holiday?
You’re (hopefully) more relaxed, more in the mood for sex (also hopefully), finally able to focus on reading a book… all things that might be harder to do at home.
You can’t deny that your mindset, your being, is different on vacation than it is at home.
So couldn’t that also affect your pain—alongside the salty air?

On the flip side: if going on vacation and everything that comes with it feels more stressful than relaxing, do you notice that you actually experience more pain?

Watch the video below to find out whether your chronic pain fits into one group or the other. Once you understand that, you can begin reprogramming your brain.

You can also do the test to determine if you have TMS.