I'm wondering if people here are able to grasp this model (fixed):
physical --> psych
...........\\.....//
.............\\ //
.............Mind
I see it more like this:
physical --> psych/beliefs
...........v.....v^
.............v ..v ^
.............Perception of illness.
All a lot of the therapies based on mind-body work can be reliably shown to do is change perception. That can make a big difference to quality of life. Its not clear it makes a big difference to disease process.
Any discussion of mind is on rocky ground. Mind is right up there with magic, spirits, demons, souls and other unproven things. It might exist, but there is no substantive reason we have to believe it actually does exist. What we call mind, what we describe as mind, is better thought of as either brain function, a perception of brain function, or an output of brain function. Mind is a cultural fiction. We need to get it out of any serious discussion of disease.
There are consistent biochemical abnormalities in ME patients and strictly defined CFS patients, and subsets. Its just that while we can measure the physiology, we do not yet know the ultimate causation. The same can be said for many other diseases, including MS and type 2 diabetes. Mental models, and appeals to mental models, come close to invoking magic to explain the physical things. There are no known mental mechanisms for any of the physical things seen in ME. A very small percentage has possible brain mechanisms though, and many or most of the secondary symptoms might be explained by brain dysfunction. When we invoke mind we invoke hypotheses that are currently untestable, and so are not currently scientific.
If we want to invoke mind, why can't we invoke spirits, curses, spells, magic, demons, or aliens? They are all unproven things, and any of them could cause things to happen if they were real.
What we call consciousness is in many respects the brain observing its own functioning.
I do think diet has an impact on ME and CFS for most of us, but I am not even close to being convinced that one single diet is optimal for all of us. For a start, I think all of us would be a heterogeneous group, with many different mechanisms and complications. Its about individual diet, not the single perfect diet. Higher protein lower carb diets seem to be more consistently cited as helping.
I regularly play computer games. They help, not hinder. What I do not do is play fast paced demanding games that induce adrenaline surges and demand intense concentration. Those are a problem. So the type of game is critical. Even so, gaming like most other things has to be paced.