Mikolasek, Michael, Berg, Jonas, Witt, Claudia M et al. · International journal of behavioral medicine · 2018 · DOI
Researchers reviewed 17 online programs that teach mindfulness and relaxation techniques to people with various medical conditions, including chronic fatigue syndrome. These digital programs generally showed benefits for overall health and mood, though they didn't clearly help with stress reduction or mindfulness skills themselves. The findings suggest these programs could be a helpful addition to standard medical treatment.
For ME/CFS patients, this review is significant because it includes ME/CFS in a systematic synthesis of digital psychological interventions and demonstrates that online mindfulness and relaxation programs may offer accessible, low-burden support for managing symptoms and psychological comorbidities. The evidence suggests potential complementary value alongside medical care.
This review does not prove that mindfulness or relaxation interventions are effective for ME/CFS specifically—only that they appeared in one of the 17 included studies. It also does not establish whether benefits persist long-term, whether certain patient subgroups benefit more than others, or whether these interventions are superior to standard care alone. The lack of effect on stress and mindfulness outcomes contradicts some expected mechanisms of action.
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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