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Invisible Illnesses
Invisible Illnesses explores why so many people experience real, sometimes severe symptoms—like back pain, headaches or fatigue—yet medical tests come back normal. Hosts Alex Ward-Booth, who’s been through his own personal medical journey, and his cousin Dr. Stephen Ward-Booth, a practicing GP, shed light on “functional illnesses” like IBS and fibromyalgia. Through real stories and expert voices, they reveal the surprising mind-body connections and share practical strategies for feeling better—even when the causes and answers aren’t obvious. Not medical advice; speak to your GP.
#mental health
Episode 6: Tony's story - The Reflection Section (Part 2 of 2)
“What we find is that often the patient is working as hard as they can, pushing through, so trying to get them to work harder isn’t helpful. We use approaches like Acceptance Commitment Therapy and Compassion Focused Therapy; often the key ingredient that’s missing is self compassion.”
We’re now at Episode 6 in our eight-part series. In this instalment, we reconnect with Dr Tony Davies (following Episode 5), delving deeper into his “Body Reprogramming” approach for tackling central sensitisation syndromes like fibromyalgia.
Whilst Dr Tony is a specialist in conditions like fibromyalgia, we feel that some of the key themes in this episode are relevant for all of us:
Why more effort or more medication is rarely the answer - and how self-compassion and mindfulness can be more effective in recovery
Why information and advice alone aren’t enough for complex behaviour change
How our past experiences can ‘prime’ us for illness - and why a holistic view is vital for tackling health conditions
Whether you’re managing chronic illness or simply want practical strategies for your own wellbeing or those around you, we feel this episode offers actionable advice with wider relevance.
Music: Stephen Ward-Booth
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