.
‘The Application of Integral Medicine in the Treatment of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome’
Alex Howard and Megan Arroll 2011
http://freedomfromme.co.uk/publicat...ic-encephalomyelitischronic-fatigue-syndrome/
.
.
Pages 30 and 31 of this 2011 Paper by Megan Arroll and Alex Howard have to be read to be believed! This is a really confused hotchpotch mess of a Paper that tries to apply Ken Wilbur’s ‘Four Quadrants’ model to ‘ME/CFS’.
Arrol and Howard try to be all things to all people, and end up promoting a hardcore psychosocial model of ME, whilst seeming to ‘appease’ the biomedical model.
.
Its an irrational mess of a paper, that attempts to appease everyone, by including biomedical factors alongside extreme psycho-social theory. Lots of references to psychosocial research.
.
This Arroll/Howard paper attributes ME/CFS patients with dysfunctional personalities and/or psychological dysfunction, such as having suffered extreme traumas (including sexual abuse), as supposed predisposing factors for the supposed
‘Trauma subtype’ of ME/CFS.
.
Eg: ‘In a sample of nearly 800 ME/ CFS sufferers, sexual abuse in childhood significantly predicted fatigue as did the total number of abusive events (Taylor & Jason, 2002).’
.
So, back to conflating undefined ‘Fatigue’ with ME yet again.
.
But then Arroll/Howard give examples of
‘trauma’ that are near universal life experiences. The ‘traumas’ that are claimed to be so prevalent prior to ME/CFS onset are near universal experiences such as
‘moving house’, change of employment’, getting married’, ‘death of a loved one’.
.
.
The so called
‘Helper subtype’ of ME/CFS that the OHC have invented
“tend to constantly place the needs and wants of others above their own”.
.
Examples given include ‘childcare’ and ‘care of elderly relatives’ .
.
.
What planet do Arroll and Howard live on?
.
.
If people who later developed ME had failed to put their children’s needs above their own they could well have faced accusations of child neglect! So what are Arroll and Howard saying? That some people who develop ME are parents who, as is normal, put their children’s needs before their own?? That if after becoming sick with ME they may feel guilty due to not being able to care for their kids in the (normal) way they had before illness?? Normal reaction.
Its only these psychosocial fans who tend to psychopathologise those responses.
What ME sufferers who are parents need is recognition of ME as a serious disabling organic disease, more practical help, and realistic understanding!
.
.
What percentage of the population who are good parents, or who care for elderly relatives, or who change employment, get married, get divorced, lose a loved one……. DO NOT go on to develop ME???
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://freedomfromme.co.uk/publicat...ic-encephalomyelitischronic-fatigue-syndrome/
‘The Application of Integral Medicine in the Treatment of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome’
Alex Howard and Megan Arroll
.
‘This was the OHC Research Department’s first paper, and was published in the Journal of Integral Theory and Practice in December 2011. The paper, entitled,
“The Application of Integral Medicine in the Treatment of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome”, outlines the OHC’s approach within a model of integral medicine which uses Ken Wilber’s “4 Quadrants” model and is an academic version of the article originally published in CAM Magazine in 2009.’
.
.
Page 30:
Upper Left Quadrant (Interior Individual)
.
Psychological subtypes
_
• Achiever type
_ • Anxiety type
_ • Helper type
_ • Trauma type
Disease of the soul—crises of meaning
Maladaptive stress response
.
.
.
Lower Left Quadrant (Individual Collective)
Poor health habits (e.g., lack of
exercise, poor nutrition)
Sexual and emotional abuse
Lack of emotional holding and support
Culture of self-worth being defined
by achievements
Culture of looking for “magic pill”
and not taking responsibility for health
Culture of lack of understanding
around ME/CFS and resulting isolation
for sufferers
.
.
.
Upper Right Quadrant (Individual Exterior)
Infections and immune dysfunction—
viral and bacterial
Endocrine—thyroid, adrenal, pituitary
Mitochondrial malfunction
Digestive problems (e.g., dysbiosis,
Candida infection, food intolerance)
Structural imbalances (e.g., spinal
imbalance, temporomandibular
joint disorder)
Genetics
.
.
Lower Right Quadrant (Collective Exterior)
Lack of funding for research
Lack of funding for treatment
Lack of benefits due to unknown
etiology of ME/CFS
Environmental toxins
.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
.
.
Pages 30-31:
.
‘At TOHC, we have developed a clear model of what we believe some of the UL factors involved in ME/CFS to be, partly based on certain personality types within the Enneagram model. We refer to them as “energy-depleting psychologies,” which are effectively ways of approaching the world that tend to burn down resources faster than they can be replenished.
The four energy-depleting psychologies are the Achiever type, Helper type, Anxiety type, and Trauma type, which we will now discuss.
.
.
Achiever typesconstantly push themselves to do and be more than they are currently capable of. They are characterized by an inability to “be in the moment” and enjoy “what is,” instead always focusing on how they can be and do more.
.
This is similar to the trait of “action proneness,” a construct defined as a type of hyperactivity, which leads an individual to be driven toward direct action and achievement and which has been shown to be elevated in participants with ME/CFS as compared to individuals with chronic pain, chronic organic conditions, and neurotic disorders (Van Houdenhove et al., 1995).
Significant differences were observed between the ME/CFS group and the latter two groups, although comparable degrees of action proneness were found between the ME/CFS and the chronic pain group, intimating the possibility of similar illness development in these two medically unexplained conditions. Additionally, individuals with ME/CFS were found to rate themselves as being more “hard-driving” before illness onset than control subjects (Lewis et al., 1994).
.
.
Helper typestend to constantly place the needs and wants of others above their own. They value themselves by their helping and supporting of others, and although in the eyes of society might be perceived as a “good person,” are often giving due to an internal drive that needs to be fulfilled. In a qualitative study investigating the daily worries of those with ME/CFS, it was found that the participants reported being very
concerned with the well-being of others and felt a great deal of guilt at their inability to carry out as many “helping” tasks as they had done before the onset of their illness (Arroll et al., 2010). Additionally,
when discussing pre-onset, the respondents often reported a high level of caregiving roles including looking after elderly parents, childcare, and generally feeling responsible for others’ well-being.
.
.
Anxiety typeshave an internal sense of fear, danger, and threat. They deal with this either by being outwardly fearful, or by becoming the opposite, and constantly try to convince themselves and others they are not afraid. Under the surface is an ongoing sense of things “not being OK” and the world not being able to support them. As previously stated, the effects of constant anxiety can induce a state of sustained physiological arousal that may perpetuate symptomatology in ME/CFS.
.
.
Trauma types can either have suffered a major event, such as a natural disaster, or some kind of physical, mental, emotional or sexual abuse, or what is known as “developmental trauma” where there is no single event. Generally, developmental trauma victims have grown up in an “unheld and unsupported environment”—
these kinds of trauma are not generally digested without professional assistance, and therefore take a long-term toll on the body when not healthily worked through. Studies investigating major life events (e.g., moving house, marriage, divorce, change of employment, death of a loved one) found that those with ME/
CFS reported significantly more negative life events prior to illness onset as compared with control subjects (Hatcher & House, 2003) and those with comparable disorders (Sundbom et al., 2002).
.
.
The Lower-Left Quadrant
‘Physical and sexual abuse has been associated with incidence of ME/CFS.2 In a sample of nearly 800 ME/ CFS sufferers, sexual abuse in childhood significantly predicted fatigue as did the total number of abusive events (Taylor & Jason, 2002). In comparison with fatiguing organic disorders (rheumatoid arthritis [RA] and multiple sclerosis [MS]), it was found that individuals with the medically unexplained conditions of ME/CFS and fibromyalgia (FM) had higher rates of emotional abuse, emotional neglect, and physical abuse, although this trend did not hold true for sexual abuse (Van Houdenhove et al., 2001). A sub-group of the ME/CFS/FM
patients endured this abuse throughout their lives; the abuse did not occur as isolated incidents and was most often committed by close family members or partners.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One wonders which of these theoretical so-called ‘Psychological subtypes’ and “energy depleting psychologies”, invented by the Optimum Health Clinic, that Megan Arroll and Alex Howard attribute themselves as suffering from?
.
.