July 2024 Newsletter
SUCCESS STORY
Angela’s Story of Long-COVID Recovery
By Rebecca Tolin,
Mind-Body Coach
Angela was in her prime when she caught a mild case of COVID-19. The mother of two was a therapist and did five high-intensity exercise classes weekly. With mounting personal stressors, her energy didn’t rebound afterward. Angela pushed through heavy fatigue for five months, until her mental and physical health crashed.
It started with panic attacks, paranoia, anxiety and depression. Her sense of doom was so great that she thought she was dying. Angela had to be hospitalized several times so she wouldn’t harm herself. Although she’d supported her own patients through a similar crisis, Angela had no experience with psychiatric issues herself.
Next came POTS, brain fog, exhaustion, insomnia, head pain, and extreme sensitivity to sound and light. Her family had to decipher forms at the long COVID clinic. Angela’s blood pressure dropped so quickly that when she rose, she had to remain at a 45-degree angle. Her life became confined to a daybed her family set up on the porch. For a change of scenery, Angela would crawl to the grass.
Heart, brain, and sleep tests came back normal. Thankfully, a psychiatrist explained she had post-COVID syndrome, but there was no tissue damage. A nurse confirmed that her symptoms were real, but her body had a clean bill of health. Hearing this from medical professionals brought great relief. Angela began focusing on lowering fear and calming her brain.
Gentle yoga and meditation soothed her body. Brain training helped her reframe fear-based beliefs. Angela gained some energy but still felt stuck. She felt at war with herself and the persistent symptoms, including head pain, she described as a 10 out of 10.
When Angela reached out to me, she was ready to explore buried emotions that brain training couldn't reach. We met for a coaching session, and she enrolled in my “Be Your Own Medicine” recovery program. I suggested that she wasn’t broken and invited her to take a vacation from fixing herself. Angela later told me she sobbed from the realization that she was trying to fix herself because she didn't love herself.
With mind-body knowledge and tools under her belt, Angela took a week in the wilderness to tune into herself. The normally athletic woman longed to hike, run, and swim once again—so she did! Her sensations intensified. Angela used somatic tracking to watch them with mindful awareness. She breathed, yelled, shook, cried, tapped, and held herself through the emotions to follow. Confident that her brain was creating these symptoms, she reminded herself she was safe.
Angela wrote out three lists of stressors from my expressive writing handout, which brought bursts of rage. Alone in nature, she allowed primal screams to emerge. On the sixth day, after finishing a heated writing dialogue, something extraordinary happened: her head pressure vanished! Pain that had grown to what she called a 12 was now barely detectable. She curled up on the grass, laughing and crying. The sensation hovered between a zero and a two in the days to come, but she no longer feared it. When Angela contacted me after her trip, she wrote, “I am now sort of in love with myself!”
It’s been two years since she got a mild case of COVID-19. She’s since overcome a second infection with relative ease through her mind-body practices. Angela says all her symptoms are nearly gone. But she continues somatic tracking, emotions-based meditations, and graded exposure. She’s since returned to work and parenting with gusto. She’s back to snowshoeing and hiking.
Angela says it’s a huge relief to be free of her symptoms, but she’s excavated something more vital: her authentic self. She even strangely misses the symptoms! When we last met, Angela said that long Covid taught her to believe in herself. As she started loving the symptoms for trying to help her, she started loving herself too.
GOOD NEWS
Living with fibromyalgia often means enduring relentless pain and emotional distress, which can make daily life feel overwhelming. However, recent research offers long-awaited hope. The study "Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, and Education for Fibromyalgia: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial" highlights an effective that could help you reclaim control over your life.
The study investigated three different approaches to managing fibromyalgia: Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET), Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and an educational control group. EAET, which focuses on helping individuals recognize and express suppressed emotions related to their pain, emerged as particularly effective.
The study found that the educational control group, while informative, did not achieve the same level of pain reduction and emotional improvement as CBT and EAET. CBT, another well-established therapy, did show positive results.
The most important finding of the study was this.
Many participants undergoing EAET reported more significant reductions in pain and improvements in emotional well-being than even those using a CBT treatment approach. This suggests that addressing emotional factors can play a crucial role in managing the symptoms of fibromyalgia, and possibly other chronic pain conditions.
Imagine experiencing less pain, greater emotional balance, and an improved quality of life. This study indicates that integrating EAET into your treatment plan could be transformative. By addressing both the physical and emotional aspects of fibromyalgia, this treatment approach offers a unique approach to managing chronic pain.
Don't let fibromyalgia dictate your life—explore this evidence-based therapy and take a significant step towards better health and happiness.
SYMPTOM SPOTLIGHT
Migraines can be debilitating, but embracing a neuroplastic treatment approach, such as presented on the Psychophysiologic Disorders Association website offers a powerful path to relief. Neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections, can be harnessed to combat migraines. By retraining the brain's response to pain, sufferers can reduce the frequency and intensity of attacks.
Neuroplastic treatments can help the brain to respond more calmly to potential triggers and decrease the hypersensitivity that often leads to migraines. Explore our website to learn more about effective treatment strategies
By committing to these neuroplastic treatments, you're not just masking symptoms but addressing the root cause, leading to lasting change. Start incorporating these practices into your daily routine and witness the transformation. Empower yourself with the knowledge that your brain can heal and adapt. Take the first step toward a migraine-free life today.
IN THE NEWS
The Psychophysiologic Disorders Association is proud to announce that we have a distinguished new board member, Dr. Nathaniel Frank. Dr. Frank is an author, historian, and science writer focused on public health and LGBTQ issues. His forthcoming book on chronic pain will be published by Mayo Clinic Press. He has written numerous articles on how he recovered from chronic pain using a treatment approach advocated by our association, including the following from the Washington Post.
