Beischel, Julie, Tassone, Shawn, Boccuzzi, Mark · Explore (New York, N.Y.) · 2019 · DOI
This study looked at whether people who identify as mediums (those who report communicating with deceased individuals) experience more health problems than people who don't. Researchers found that mediums reported significantly more autoimmune diseases, sleep problems, gastrointestinal issues, and other symptoms compared to non-mediums. However, blood tests and heart rate measurements taken during mediumship sessions showed no unusual changes.
For ME/CFS researchers and patients, this study is relevant because it documents a high prevalence of overlapping symptoms (sleep disturbance, gastrointestinal dysfunction, immune dysregulation) in a specific population and raises questions about what physiological or environmental factors might drive symptom clustering. Understanding why certain groups report elevated rates of autoimmune and multi-system symptoms may provide clues applicable to ME/CFS pathophysiology.
This study does not establish causation—it only shows associations between mediumship practice and health complaints. The self-reported survey data lacks clinical verification, so actual diagnosis rates may differ from reported rates. Cross-sectional design prevents determining whether health problems predated mediumship practice or resulted from it, and healthy user bias may influence who participates in surveys.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
Spotted an error in this entry? Report it →