I want to be mindful of the posting guidelines but something was brought to my attention last week that I think may be helpful to share with others Zebras, especially since anyone whose on here, I assume wants to optimize their health and functionality and manage their symptoms as best as possible- If you have experienced abuse in the past, particularly in childhood-please pay extra attention to how you speak to yourself, how your inner voice treats you when you’re dealing with flare ups or especially frustrating EDS symptoms. For a long time, I blamed myself for my worst EDS symptoms. I thought if I were a “better”, “stronger” person, I could control my symptoms to the point that they wouldn’t effect my daily life. It has lead to extra, unnecessary stress and anxiety that no doubt has only served to agitate my symptoms as it increases muscle tension and the guarding that @Jeannie Di Bon talks about. It’s also caused me to push past warning signs my body has given me numerous times. I read recently that thinking patterns likes this are common in chronic pain or chronic illness patients who experienced childhood abuse and neglect, as pain was used as a punishment in childhood, so it created that messaging pattern in the brain- “if I am in pain, it means I have done something wrong/this is my fault/I am not worthy of love” etc. Since learning about this and having that “Aha” moment, I have already found myself better able to depersonalize the effects of my EDS, observe my thought patterns more efficiently and focus more on taking care of myself and listening to my body vs just treating my symptoms and getting unnecessarily frustrated at myself, which, like I wrote earlier, only ensures more bodily tension and holding in the short and long term. Thanks for giving me the space to share this, I hope it can be helpful to other Zebras ❤️

Posted by teddyhadapixie at 2022-11-01 16:39:15 UTC