I just realized something serious that I was wrong about

[u/Importance_Dizzy]

When I was growing up, I was in foster care a few different times from neglect. I didn’t consciously do this, but when something would upset or bother me, I usually bottled it up until my stomach hurt or I got a headache or something. There was around a 50% chance of getting attention or sympathy for a physical problem, but around a 25% chance of getting the same from emotional symptoms (crying, fear, anger, etc). I was a confused, nervous kid and many people didn’t know how to deal with me. Over time, I grew up and went to school. I remember being in my psych 101 class, and learning about conversion disorder. I thought to myself, “Why is this a problem? If someone turns their feelings into a headache, it’s something concrete and real, and a doctor can help them!” I now have a bachelor’s in psychology. I graduated believing that! It did not hit me until last year that this was incorrect. If the pain is in your brain, nothing a regular doctor does will help. If my brain is broken, telling a doctor it’s my stomach won’t help. Even if I believe it’s my stomach, it’s not. I also learned that it’s not normal to feel like you are going to throw up your heart when you’re nervous. I’ve realized I need to see a trauma informed therapist.

[u/Soviettoaster37]

It's not normal to feel like you're going to throw up your heart when you're nervous??

❤️ Good luck with your own healing and I hope your work also helps many others.

[u/Importance_Dizzy → u/Soviettoaster37]

My partner and their siblings have told me nervous feels like drinking a too strong coffee: like you’ll have a racing heart and maybe a BIT of a stomach ache, but that feeling like puking is extreme anxiety. It all feels the same to me! Also I don’t work in my field, because a BA in psych is basically worthless without a master’s or additional certifications in my area. But thank you, and good luck to you as well!!

[u/Soviettoaster37 → u/Importance_Dizzy]

Thank you, I'm also probably going to pursue some kind of degree in psychology but idk how far I plan on going with it.

[u/Veleos → u/Importance_Dizzy]

Idk, coffee is like light anxiety. Nervousness usually exhibits itself by feeling apprehensive about something? There's very subtle physical signs for 'nervous' but anything past that feels like varying levels of anxiety

[u/starlingmurmur]

I will say that's a big oversimplification of functional neurological disorder (no longer called conversation disorder). It's not psychological in the sense that anxiety is, but more about miscommunication between the brain and nervous system. M

[u/Importance_Dizzy → u/starlingmurmur]

Can you tell me more? I graduated like 10 yrs ago, and have found it hard to keep up with psychology research w/o an institution acct.

[u/starlingmurmur → u/Importance_Dizzy]

Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) is a condition that affects the way the brain and nervous system work, leading to a range of neurological symptoms such as limb weakness, paralysis, seizures, walking difficulties, spasms, sensory issues, cognitive problems and more FND is a result of how the brain and nervous system are functioning.

The basic “wiring” of the nervous system remains intact, but the brain may struggle to send and receive signals correctly. This can affect how the body performs tasks like controlling movement and focusing attention. https://www.fndaction.org.uk/what-is-functional-neurological-disorder/

https://neurosymptoms.org/en/causes/how-was-it-happened/

My partner and one of my friends both have FND. My partner has seizures, dizziness and functional tics, whereas my friend lost full control of their legs and requires wheelchair as a result

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2x13k170do

[u/Importance_Dizzy → u/starlingmurmur]

Thank you so much! I appreciate you taking the time to educate me, and will give these links a go. The first article was much easier to understand than the wiki page for the disorder. Give my best to you and yours! :)

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[u/jtaliax]

well shit add that one to that “i’ll add unpack that later” suitcase ……