Hi. My name is Kath, and I’m wound-the-fuck-up.
In 2020, I was diagnosed with interstitial cystitis (IC), and I spent the next two hellish years frantically searching for relief. I’m writing this blog because I found it. In short, I read some books, I reprogrammed my brain, and now I’m IC free. The key to my recovery was learning that my IC symptoms were caused not by a physical problem, but by a psychogenic one, which I’ll refer to as mind-body syndrome (MBS).
As I see it, the unifying trait of MBS sufferers is that we are all wound-the-fuck-up. We run anxious. We are perfectionists and fixers. We’re the type of people that you might call “anal” or “intense.” In many ways, being wound-the-fuck-up is wonderful. It drives us to get shit done and to strive for excellence, and it’s highly rewarded in our capitalist society. But, like all personality traits, it’s a double-edged sword, and it can make us seriously ill if it gets out of hand.
I’ve started this website with two intentions: (1) to share what I’ve learned in the process of overcoming my IC symptoms, and (2) to try to sort out how to live a happy, healthy life as a person who is perpetually wound-the-fuck-up.
A note on the term “psychogenic”: The term “psychogenic” means originating in the mind. I understand that this term may be triggering to you if you’ve been diagnosed with IC or another enigmatic condition. It feels dismissive or accusatory; it seems to suggest that your symptom isn’t real or that you’re faking it. But the truth is that all pain is created, in its entirety, by the brain. (No brain, no pain, baby.) Thus, the fact that psychogenic pain is produced in the absence of a physical problem does not make it any less “real.” It just means that this type of pain needs to be addressed using psychological techniques rather than medical ones.
Disclaimer: I’m not a medical doctor or a psychotherapist, but I really love doing research. (I’ve got a PhD in biochemistry to prove it.) So while my babbling in no way constitutes professional medical advice, you can expect it to be backed by scientific evidence and the teachings of leading MBS experts.
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