Assessments
More Evidence for your Brain.
Please look at the 30 questions below
The more questions to which you answer ‘yes’, the more likely it is that Mind Body Syndrome (MBS/PPD) is contributing to your symptoms.
Has your doctor completed diagnostic testing without finding a definite cause for your symptom(s).
Do you have more than one symptom? (the more you have, the more likely PPD is involved)
Are your symptoms located in different areas of the body?
Are these symptoms different in type? (for example, headache and abdominal bloating)
Did the symptom begin with no obvious trigger or cause?
If the symptom began after an injury, has it persisted long after the injury should have healed? (healing of most physical injury is complete in 6 weeks or less.)
Does your symptom move or migrate to different body locations over time?
Do your symptoms have the quality of tingling, electric shock, burning, numbness, heat, or cold?
Are your symptoms more or less intense depending on the time of day, or do they occur first thing in the morning or the middle of the night?
Do your symptoms occur after, but not during, activity or exercise?
Are your symptoms triggered by or increased by stress or thinking about stressful situations?
Are your symptoms less severe or less frequent when you are engaged in enjoyable or distracting activities, such as vacation?
Are your symptoms less severe or less frequent when in a safe environment?
Are your symptoms less severe or non-existent after physical treatments such as massage, chiropractic, Reiki, acupuncture, or an herbal or vitamin supplement?
Are your symptoms triggered by foods, smells, sounds, light, computer screens, menses, changes in the weather, or specific movements?
Are your symptoms triggered by the anticipation of stress, such as before school, work, a doctor’s visit, a medical test, a visit to a relative, a social gathering, or during those activities?
Are your symptoms triggered by simply imagining engaging in the triggering activity, such as bending over, turning the neck, sitting, or standing?
Are your symptoms triggered by light touch or gentle stimuli, such as the wind or cold?
Did you have adverse experiences in childhood that you would not want a child of your own to have?
Would you describe yourself as highly detail-oriented or a perfectionist?
Do you care for the needs of so many other people that you have difficulty including yourself among those for whom you care?
Is it highly important to you to please others or be seen as good by others?
Are you often more critical of yourself than others are?
Are people who caused stress for you as a child still active in your life?
As an adult, have you been in close relationships with people outside your original family to whom you gave more of yourself than you received in return? Did any of these people place heavy demands on you, try to control, threaten, or harm you?
Did your symptoms begin soon after a terrifying, traumatic, or horrifying event or a triggering event linked to a trauma?
Over the course of your life, have you had other physical symptoms that your physician struggled to diagnose?
Have you ever had a drug or drinking problem?
Do you have worry, anxiety, or fear out of proportion to any reason to have those?
Do you suffer from depression, sleeping difficulty, fatigue, or loss of interest in formerly enjoyable activities?
How do you relate to your symptoms?
As we go through any time with Chronic Symptoms, we may have developed patterns that cause the symptoms to become “learned.”
____ Have you spent much time and energy going to many treatments to get better?
____ Do you spend much time thinking about getting better?
____ Do you spend much time worrying or catastrophizing about your symptoms?
____ Do you avoid certain activities or circumstances for fear of pain?
____ Do you believe certain circumstances cause your symptoms?
____ Do you believe certain foods cause your symptoms?
____ Do you talk or complain to others about your symptoms?
____ Do you worry about your future life because of the symptoms?
____ Are you afraid of the pain?
____ Are certain movements scary to you?
____ Do you use special pillows or other pain modifiers?
____ Are there times when the symptoms are so bad that you stay in bed?
All these behaviors are understandable if you suffer from chronic symptoms. But the unfortunate part is they all give the brain the message that there is a problem with the symptom, and so the brain learns that now, the symptom is dangerous. The good news is that this can be unlearned.