CBT is a therapy which can be very useful for a lot of things. The idea is that you work to overcome negative/unhelpful beliefs, and develop good strategies for dealing with things. I've known people who've found it very useful for other conditions, such as being traumatised after cancer treatment. However, the problem when CBT is applied to ME is that it's built on completely wrong foundations: the idea that saying that ME is physiological is a "negative illness belief", and that we should all be encouraged to move more. A lot of people have come to harm due to this.
However, that's just bad application of CBT. In theory, it's a neutral tool and it should be possible to apply it in a way that's productive. I don't think this is likely to happen in the near future, the medical establishment is too invested in the harmful approach, but I thought it would be interesting to discuss an ideal form of CBT, in which it could really help us. Here is what I have so far:
1) Pacing, only focused on preventing overexertion instead of trying to bully us into doing more. This is far and away the hardest part of dealing with ME, I find.
2) Coping with social prejudices against people with ME (and illnesses/disabilities in general), which are often downright abusive.
3) Coping with the constant pressure to overexert ourselves, and preventing ourselves from internalising this message.
4) Learning to grieve for what we've lost and to form realistic expectations about the lives we have (instead of the medical profession pretending that we'll all get better if we just try a bit harder).
5) How to conduct relationships with family, partners, friends and colleagues (if applicable). This would partly be about working with good relationships, since ME makes even those difficult and stressful, and learning how to get out of bad relationships. It's horrifying how many people here have had to deal with serious abuse from family or partners.
6) Learning practical measures, such as what to do if your eyesight gets bad, or how to manage using a shower or cooking.
7) Dealing appropriately with depression, anxiety or other mental health issues but only if they actually exist, rather than assuming by default that we're all mentally ill. All chronic illness has a secondary depression rate, after all.
8) Coping with a medical profession, social services and welfare system who have no idea what to do with us and can often treat us very badly. There can be a knack to dealing with them, and we often need emotional support from how they deal with us.
However, that's just bad application of CBT. In theory, it's a neutral tool and it should be possible to apply it in a way that's productive. I don't think this is likely to happen in the near future, the medical establishment is too invested in the harmful approach, but I thought it would be interesting to discuss an ideal form of CBT, in which it could really help us. Here is what I have so far:
1) Pacing, only focused on preventing overexertion instead of trying to bully us into doing more. This is far and away the hardest part of dealing with ME, I find.
2) Coping with social prejudices against people with ME (and illnesses/disabilities in general), which are often downright abusive.
3) Coping with the constant pressure to overexert ourselves, and preventing ourselves from internalising this message.
4) Learning to grieve for what we've lost and to form realistic expectations about the lives we have (instead of the medical profession pretending that we'll all get better if we just try a bit harder).
5) How to conduct relationships with family, partners, friends and colleagues (if applicable). This would partly be about working with good relationships, since ME makes even those difficult and stressful, and learning how to get out of bad relationships. It's horrifying how many people here have had to deal with serious abuse from family or partners.
6) Learning practical measures, such as what to do if your eyesight gets bad, or how to manage using a shower or cooking.
7) Dealing appropriately with depression, anxiety or other mental health issues but only if they actually exist, rather than assuming by default that we're all mentally ill. All chronic illness has a secondary depression rate, after all.
8) Coping with a medical profession, social services and welfare system who have no idea what to do with us and can often treat us very badly. There can be a knack to dealing with them, and we often need emotional support from how they deal with us.
