Groven, Karen Synne, Dahl-Michelsen, Tone · Health care for women international · 2022 · DOI
This study examined the story of one woman who recovered from ME/CFS to understand how healing from this illness happens. Instead of debating whether ME/CFS is 'purely physical' or 'purely psychological,' the researchers looked at how many different factors—including both biological and non-biological elements—worked together in her recovery. The study suggests that recovery involves the interaction of many different things in a person's life, not just one single cause.
This study offers an alternative philosophical framework for understanding ME/CFS recovery that transcends the unproductive 'biological versus psychological' debate that has long polarized the field. By highlighting how multiple interconnected factors contribute to recovery, it validates patient experiences and encourages more integrated, holistic approaches to treatment and support.
This single narrative case study does not establish what causes ME/CFS or prove what treatment interventions are effective. It does not provide quantitative data, population-level evidence, or mechanisms that can be applied universally across all ME/CFS patients. The findings represent one individual's experience and cannot be generalized to explain recovery pathways for others.
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 →