Schubbe, Oliver · Therapeutische Umschau. Revue therapeutique · 2019 · DOI
This paper reviews Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), a type of psychotherapy that may help with conditions like chronic fatigue syndrome. The authors suggest that dysfunctional stored memories could contribute to psychosomatic disorders, and EMDR aims to help the brain process these memories in a healthier way. Recent studies have shown EMDR may help with various conditions including chronic fatigue syndrome, migraines, and chronic pain.
EMDR represents a potential mind-body treatment approach that may address underlying trauma or dysfunctional memory processing in ME/CFS. The inclusion of chronic fatigue syndrome among conditions with documented EMDR effectiveness suggests this therapeutic avenue warrants further investigation, especially given the complex neurobiology and frequent trauma histories in ME/CFS populations.
This is a narrative review, not a clinical trial, so it does not prove EMDR is effective for ME/CFS specifically. The paper does not establish causation between dysfunctional memories and ME/CFS pathophysiology, nor does it distinguish between symptom management and treatment of underlying disease mechanisms. Individual studies cited may have varying quality and sample sizes.
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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