Mind-Body FAQ 3: How long does it take to heal?
While most people think that healing is a place, it’s not. Healing is not a destination but the journey.
Q: How long does it take to heal from Mind-Body Syndrome?
A: Everyone’s healing journey is different, but there’s more to it than that.
But you knew that already ;)
When I think about FAQs in terms of Mind-Body Medicine, this may be the single most frequently asked question. I want the answer to be tomorrow, and I’m sure you do, too! I don’t want any of my clients to suffer one more minute, much less one more day or week or month. But healing is a process, and I’ve learned enough over time to know that everyone’s process is different and, even more so, that everyone moves at the pace that they need to.
There are a lot of stories online of people who were better in a day or a week; those stories are actually few and far between. In actuality, you’re making new neural connections and setting up new brainwave pathways, and it just takes some time to do that. Like so many other areas of life, the more you can focus on the process, the better off you will be and the easier it will be to tolerate the pace, whatever your pace might be.
The key point to remember is that while most people think that healing is a place, it’s not. Healing is not a destination but the journey. Important factors to keep in mind as you embark on this journey are:
Putting in regular work helps to keep you moving forward. Even just 5 minutes per day is helpful.
It’s natural to get scared if you don’t know precisely where you’re going. Everyone does. The way through fear is through fear, so feel the fear, but keep at it anyways. Reach out for help as frequently as you need to.
Entering into difficult feelings and thoughts (rather than shying away from them) helps move the process along more quickly. This is a tremendously helpful skill to learn and one that’s not taught well in our society, so learning it gives you an important leg up.
You’ve taken steps already to heal from MBS, so that means you are healing from MBS as you’re reading this. My patient Jodie, whose story you can hear here, constantly asked me when she was going to arrive at the destination and I had to constantly remind her that she was well on her way. Interestingly, even when she got close to the end she couldn’t initially tell; she called me one day and asked me when she was going to get there and I had to go through the entirety of her lack of symptoms to help her understand that the journey she had taken had tremendous benefits. Jodie still reaches out twice a year to express gratitude and remind me how far she’s come.
As you move forward, keep in mind that healing is a journey, not a destination. When you find yourself asking how much longer, remember that the important part was beginning the process. Healing is a verb, not a noun, and you are healing already.