Something's going on here/ But what it is ain't exactly clear --Bob Dylan
These lyrics from a few years back pretty much sum up the medical position on fibromyalgia. Selfridge, who is a medical doctor, and Franklynn, who is a professional writer, don't make it any clearer, but they have the considerable merit (especially from the point of view of the fibromyalgia sufferer) of having suffered from the disease themselves. Selfridge advertises herself as "90 percent cured" (p. 23) while Franklynn "feels at least 90 percent improved" (p. 26).
Although Selfridge rightly disparages the term "psychosomatic" (p. 40), it is clear that she believes that the proximate cause of fibromyalgia is the effect negative emotions have on the body, particularly the emotions of anger and rage. She believes that the "mind, brain, and body conspire to generate...real physical symptoms" (p. 60). Here's the way the authors lay it out on pages 58-60: "For sensitive people" having grown up "amidst tensions too overwhelming" for their "sensitive nervous system[s]," having been shoved "relentlessly toward the impossible goal of being perfect[,]...a significant loss--of a loved one, a job, status, or income--or a significant emotional shakeup, such as a car accident" can be the event that "may stimulate the production of chemicals that create fibromyalgia symptoms." In short (p. 61), "Fibromyalgia sufferers are more sensitive to stress than the general population." Are they right? Nobody knows for sure. Fibromyalgia, like some other chronic diseases that plague our society--the many kinds of arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, myofascial pain syndrome, etc.--may be the result of some as yet unidentified factor of modern life. Most likely they are the result of a combination of factors, creating a mind-body syndrome of illness. Until such time as medical science figures it out, we have to go on living. Can we live without pain? (I use the editorial "we" not because I personally suffer from fibromyalgia, but because someone I love does, and I identify strongly with her suffering.) The authors say we can, and they lay out a five week program. Does it work?
I would say that it indeed will work in many cases, not only for sufferers of fibromyalgia, but for sufferers of many other chronic diseases of unclear etiology, perhaps some of those mentioned above. The reason is simple: their prescription includes things as meditation, regular exercise ("becoming a couch potato can aggravate fibromyalgia" p. 232), a positive attitude toward yourself and your place in the world and so on--things we all should be doing as matter of course. I would add that a belief in a power beyond the body and beyond the "ego-I" created by the bioculture would help. Note that, most significantly for fibromyalgia sufferers, it is the management of anger that the authors prescribe. Anger comes from frustration. We are not getting what we want, which is to be loved and appreciated. We want and need to be admired for our good qualities and given some slack for our not-so-good qualities. If it is true, as the authors state, that "Close to 90 percent of known fibromyalgia sufferers are women" (p. 20), we might very well ask why? An answer could be that women especially suffer from a poor self image because of the media propaganda of our society that has devalued those women who are not slim, young, rich, famous, and beautiful. The secret is not to change the society, which is impossible. It is to change our attitude toward society's delusions. As in yoga, it is a process of renunciation: we need to renounce (and really believe it) society's mistaken judgment. We also need to understand "you can't always get what you want" and recognize the negative effect unfulfilled desire can have on ourselves. When I was young and relatively handsome, the girls used to listen to every word I said. Now that I am old and gray, they don't find me so intelligent anymore. What happened to me? Nothing. (I may even have gotten smarter.) What is the cure? Not to care. To understand who and where I am, and to be content with that--indeed to revel in it. The authors include a short chapter on Resources with places to write, Web sites, and books to read including two by Deepak Chopra and three by John E. Sarno, whose The Mindbody Prescription (1998) was obviously part of the inspiration for this book.
Incidentally, the reason that the authors and most authorities now reject the term "psychosomatic" is that it has picked up the unfortunate and incorrect sense of "a mental illness" or "an illness caused by mental problems." This is not what the word means; the usage is corrupt; alas, nothing can be done about that. A new word is needed, or better yet, a new understanding, such as presented in this book, that mind affects body; body affects mind, and that an imbalance can lead to illness.
