Some critics have said that I get such good results because I only accept patients who believe in my concepts. But I can only work with patients who are reasonably receptive to the idea that their emotions are responsible for their pain. Even so, most of my patients are still skeptical when I first see them. It is my job to convince them of the logic of the diagnosis, because only by acknowledging the role of emotions can we get the brain to stop doing what it is doing. That is not believing?it is learning.
Would a surgeon operate on a patient who was not a good surgical risk? Should I be less selective than a surgeon? Another common criticism by my peers, since we are talking about critics, is that I go too far in claiming that the majority of pain syndromes of the neck, shoulders and back are due to TMS. ?He may be right in 30 percent to 40 percent of the cases,? they say.
If 30 percent to 40 percent of back pain patients have TMS, why then do these critics never make the diagnosis themselves? The sad fact is that they cannot because it means repudiating long held diagnostic biases and acknowledging the role of the emotions in these pain syndromes?something for which they have a ?visceral incapacity,? to borrow a phrase from Senator Byrd of West Virginia.
