Maas Genannt Bermpohl, Frederic, Hülsmann, Lea, Martin, Alexandra · Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023 · DOI
This review combined results from 16 studies testing whether mindfulness and acceptance-based therapies (like mindfulness meditation and acceptance and commitment therapy) help people with long-lasting body symptoms. The therapies worked better than doing nothing, reducing symptom severity by a small to moderate amount. However, the studies included were mostly about fibromyalgia and irritable bowel syndrome, with only one small study specifically on chronic fatigue syndrome.
Since functional somatic syndromes like ME/CFS often involve symptom distress and psychological factors, understanding whether mind-body therapies provide meaningful benefit is important for treatment options. This meta-analysis provides a systematic overview of efficacy, though the scarcity of ME/CFS-specific data highlights the need for larger trials in this population. Results may inform individualized treatment planning and identify which psychological approaches warrant further investigation in ME/CFS.
This meta-analysis does not establish that these therapies address underlying biological mechanisms in ME/CFS or that symptom reduction reflects improved physical function or reduced post-exertional malaise. The study primarily included fibromyalgia and IBS cohorts, so findings may not generalize to ME/CFS populations. Small sample sizes for some secondary outcomes limit confidence in effect estimates for depression, anxiety, and pain acceptance.
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 →
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