At first I didn't understand the psychosomatic pain aspects of alexithymia, but after going to the doctor about stomach aches and having them find nothing I've realized that they could be emotion-based. This has done nothing to make them go away, so does anyone have advice for how to get rid of the physical pain?
New here and want to make sure I'm posting to you and not accidentally starting a new thread.
You're not going to feel badly. It's not an option.
Train yourself. It doesn't happen overnight. I make lists. (This probably isn't psychologically healthy, but I wouldn't be linking from cracked articles and taking tests if I was entirely well.) I reason it away. That doesn't hurt because I am laying in the way most likely to relieve pressure on that part of my back. This doesn't hurt because numerous clinical tests show that heat and cold, rotated every 30 minutes, relieve that.
Even when things do hurt, I'm doing okay. I repeat this to myself as needed. Some days not at all, some days a hundred times. I am not currently on fire, or escaping genocide. I'm okay. Right now, millions of people wonder how they'll survive tomorrow. I'm okay, it's not that bad and I need to breathe. That's all. Ten breathes, nice and slow. Everything could always be worse, and it isn't... at least not now.
I run the shower until the waters gone. Sometimes with a towel in the tub so I don't have to stand. And I don't allow myself to not be completely certain that everything will be fine. I'm in my shower, not sick or starving or hoping I can hide my siblings from the soldiers at the age of eight. I'm fine and nothing that hurts... hurts that bad.
Tomorrow is a new, better day. I'm lucky to be able to reasonably assume that I have tomorrow to feel better.
