"The Life-Changing Happy Back Pain School" by Kayoko Ito

I suppose if I recommend this book, people will think I suffer from severe back pain.
It's not quite like that, although I do have painful moments occasionally.
I read it because I thought it might be useful even if you don't have back pain.

I learned about this book because Dr. Hiroyuki Morita introduced it on YouTube. The book introduction starts around 11:00.

This is not a book about treating back pain, but a novel about cognitive behavioral therapy.
Even if you are diagnosed with a herniated disc or a compression fracture, it is actually not the cause of the back pain!
For example, many elderly women in farming villages in the past had hunched backs due to compression fractures, but they didn't necessarily suffer from severe back pain.
I was already questioning the symptomatic approach of Western medicine, so this book was particularly intriguing.

The novel begins with the protagonist panicking when her back pain recurs while pushing a stroller, but she manages to handle it well. Then, a flashback begins leading up to this moment.

It details her struggles after returning to her parents' home, having worsened her back pain in her fifth year at a job advertisement publishing company, which led to hospitalization, resignation, and being dumped by her boyfriend.
I was surprised that back pain could be so severe that it required hospitalization.
She received a call from her attending physician during her hospital stay (who later becomes her husband!), who recommended a "back pain program for chronic pain patients" run by an acquaintance of his, an orthopedic surgeon, on his day off.
Since no hospital or treatment center had been able to cure it until now, and I knew this was different, I found myself clicking to sign up before I knew it.
I had felt bitter about my severe condition, which hadn't been cured despite visiting five orthopedic clinics, being hospitalized three times, and trying more alternative medicine clinics than I could count on both hands.

It is a program where they talk about the progress of each person's back pain, move their bodies slowly, meditate afterwards, think about happy things, and dance, as if untangling the knotted thread of back pain.

When you receive a diagnosis like a herniated disc at an orthopedic clinic and undergo surgery, you get a placebo effect and the pain improves. Even though the cause of the pain hasn't been removed.
Conversely, with the nocebo effect, if you think you aren't in pain, you get better.
They say that if you think of hay fever as just pollen being like a baby flower and not an enemy, the hay fever will stop occurring. My hay fever disappeared with a gluten-free diet, but there were a few years some time ago when I had no hay fever symptoms. I didn't really think about anything in particular, but I don't think I was thinking about hay fever. It did recur, though. It seems like it could be perfect with a gluten-free diet and a change in mindset.
We don't say we have a "bad head" when we have a headache. But with back pain, we say we have a "bad back." That's strange, isn't it?
When you are in pain, you only think about that, creating a vicious cycle.
You become dominated by the pain, limiting your actions and increasing the number of things you can't do.

After the 5th week
An unexpected recurrence and experiencing a special treatment
This experience gave the participants courage

Struck by severe pain due to a recurrence, she contacted the doctor and was told to come to the hospital by train because there was a special treatment. At first, she thought, "What is he saying?" when she couldn't move due to the pain, but when asked, "What will you do about the toilet?", she realized she could go to the toilet. Since it was closer to go to the entrance than to return to her room, she went to the entrance, was able to put on her shoes, and opened the door. Remembering she was hungry, she decided to go to the bakery on her bicycle. Because she was able to go out on her bicycle, she went straight to the station, took the train, and went to the hospital. This entire process was the special treatment.
Dr. Morita, who introduced this book to me, also said that he had experienced a slipped disc and was in severe pain, but he was still able to go to the toilet.

It was a story about each participant finding their own way of life and beginning to move forward.
If you change yourself, the pain will also disappear.

I have had a slipped disc only once.
It was a busy time after my mother passed away, with paperwork and cleaning up. I slipped it while I was cleaning and doing laundry at home and putting a sheet on the bed. I just stayed lying on the bed until the pain subsided, and then I was able to move, so I finished cleaning up (^^♪ and then walked slowly to the nearby bonesetter's clinic. I only went for about a week.
I realized that going for a massage when my stiff shoulders get bad is also a placebo effect. You don't have to go many times; if you go once, you feel refreshed and get better.
I thought that consciousness is important.

Thank you for reading this far.