Psycho-emotional considerations
After the procedure, the pathological mechanisms have improved or are eliminated.
However, an increase in emotional phenomena, such as fear, sadness, doubt or frustration, in the sense of emotional destabilization, remains possible. These phenomena can restrict good recovery and lead to the appearance of various symptoms (called "psychogenic" symptoms) that can be detected by detailed psychological and clinical analysis and EEG examination. The fact that these negative feelings appear may seem contradictory, but this can be explained by recognizing the following dynamics:
1 - Waiting for recovery increases inner stress, especially when there is a strong and long-standing desire for symptom relief and a strong desire for a full return to personal abilities and activities
2 - After the joy of the improvement obtained, the fear of a relapse settles in and increases sharply already during the first days after surgery
3 - The release of symptoms also frees the mind, which can then deal more and more with the consequences of the disease or unresolved biographical issues.
4 - The new situation causes fear due to lack of references, it will be experienced as deficient and threatening
5 - Dissatisfaction with time lost due to the disease or with the remaining limitations of the disease
A chronic illness that has lasted several years may take several months to a few years to recover emotional stability.
An intervention brings external help, during which the patient should not become personally involved (in addition to the trust he/she has placed in the doctor and his team). As soon as the intervention work is completed, a change should appear, at best in a rapid manner, in which the promotion and mobilization of self-healing forces (corresponding to inner help) play a central role. Chronic suffering leads to low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence, which are the roots of depression and are central themes to consider when providing psychotherapeutic support. Reducing anger and fear, dealing with past trauma and establishing wishes for the future are also and often relevant themes. The goal of supportive psychotherapy is to promote different mental capacities that help to regain emotional stability as quickly as possible. In our experience, the following points are of particular importance:
1 - The ability to observe, mainly one's own representations and emotions
2 - Acceptance of the past, the personal situation and the impermanence of all things (letting go)
3 - Taking responsibility for one's own future development, without feelings of guilt or self-insufficiency
4 - Patience, self-confidence and "ur- and grundvertrauen" (self-trust and basic trust)
5 - Mental flexibility, adaptability, freedom from rigid representations
6 - The concentration of the mind on the "here and now", far from the dramas of the past or the prospects for the future
7 - Consideration of the self as multiple with strengths and weaknesses, positive and negative emotions (fear and frustration, but also self-confidence and courage)
8 - And the consideration of the "middle ground", i.e. far from the black/white and hell/paradise oppositions.
High technology is compatible with a holistic approach. On the surgical team side, important prerequisites for effective support are on the one hand a satisfactory integration of our own emotions, empathy for the patient and confidence in the patient's self-healing abilities.
Throughout the previous years, we have had very positive experiences with such a program. Some impressive examples of relatively rapid symptom control were observed after a few months of postoperative psychotherapy, which gave the patient (and the surgical team!) a sense of great success in improving or even returning to normal quality and meaning of life and joie de vivre.
These experiences, but also the discovery of a common factor in the process of treated diseases and mental phenomena - cerebral rhythmicity - have led us to the natural conclusion that our overall management is by no means a preconceived idea or a fad.
Results on FUS PTT surgery for PD
Just did my FUS surgery at sonimodul in Switzerland and it's awesome.
