Online study from Glasgow Caledonian University seeking participants

[Diwi9]

PR has received a request from a graduate student at Glasgow Caledonian University for participants for a a final stage trainee Counseling Psychologist's research project. The study has received ethics approval from the university's ethics review board and is conducted online.

Please review the trial's recruitment summary to determine if you are a candidate and would like to participate.

Psychological well-being of those with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
(ME/CFS) and their experiences of healthcare professionals.

DETAILS OF PROJECT:
Hello, my name is Deanne Turner, and I am a Stage 3 Trainee in Counselling Psychology at Glasgow Caledonian University. I am carrying out a research project exploring the experiences of CFS/ME sufferers within healthcare services and their psychological wellbeing.

I am aware that there is a lot of controversy and alternative opinions around the causes, effects, and treatments of this very complex and debilitating condition. Slow diagnosis due to a lack of any specific tests means that it can be years before sufferers receive any answers, or treatment, if at all. This can lead to negative beliefs by some healthcare professionals around CFS/ME, which in turn can negatively impact on sufferer's physical and psychological wellbeing.

Current psychological therapies focus on behaviours such as exercise, low mood, and a feeling of lack of control. More recently, however, research has found that whatever the physical cause of CFS/ME, this can be influenced by trauma, in particular negative experiences in childhood, which affect the body’s immune system.

I am looking for participants who are living with CFS/ME and who can take part in an online interview about their lived experiences in general and within healthcare services. Taking part in this study involves an online interview lasting up to an hour, depending on your current health and fatigue levels. You need to be 18 or over and be an English-speaker (mother tongue or learned English as a second language).

Questions will be asked around your own personal experiences, and I will send a copy of those to you beforehand so that you can prepare and make sure that you are happy with what I am going to ask you. All interviews will be held online using Microsoft Teams, at a date and time of your choosing.

ETHICAL APPROVAL:
My study has been given ethical approval by the School of Health and Life Sciences (Psychology, Social Work, and Allied Health Sciences) at Glasgow Caledonian University, and is being supervised by Dr Monika McNeill who can be contacted via email at monika.mcneill@gcu.ac.uk.

CONTACT DETAILS:
If you are interested in taking part in my study, I will send you an information sheet which includes further details. If you are interested in taking part, or have any questions that you would like to ask me, then please drop me an email at dturne202@caledonian.ac.uk. Your support would be very much appreciated.

DEADLINE:
31 MAY 2021 (though there is some flexibility around this).

 

[Art Vandelay]

More recently, however, research has found that whatever the physical cause of CFS/ME, this can be influenced by trauma, in particular negative experiences in childhood, which affect the body’s immune system.

Not true:
Summary Review: Rethinking Childhood adversity in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome 30thOctober 2017

Trial By Error: The Observer Slips Up; ME Association Responds

 

[Diwi9]

Not true:
Summary Review: Rethinking Childhood adversity in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome 30thOctober 2017

Trial By Error: The Observer Slips Up; ME Association Responds

Yes, I also sent her this article when she inquired:

https://academic.oup.com/cid/advanc.../cid/ciaa1886/6048942?redirectedFrom=fulltext

At baseline, those who developed ME/CFS had more physical symptoms and immune irregularities, but not more psychological symptoms, than those who recovered.

 

[Revel]

My childhood was quite devoid of trauma, until I developed ME/POTS, aged 8. Only then did it become "traumatic", thanks entirely to the "negative beliefs by some healthcare professionals".

So, no, I won't be contributing to a trial that is already out of touch with more current research before it's even begun.

 

[nerd]

Obviously, lifestyle and trauma can influence the probability of developing CFS/ME since it suppresses the immune system during the causal infection. But this doesn't make trauma a causality (10.1542/peds.2008-1879; 10.1001/archpediatrics.2010.144). It makes it a predisposition. Just like genetics will have a predisposing role to some extent. What's the motivation behind this kind of research? Shall we continue GET and psychotherapy? Shall we try gene therapy for every disease because genetics always play a role?

By the way. I think if you look through enough, you can find trauma in any childhood. Because trauma is a question of perception. It's inherent to the maturation process to reach your own limits at times. These moments are usually remembered dominantly when you reach a limit, intentionally or not. If you can trigger a depressive state in a patient as a therapist, they might actually be surprised how sad or shocked they immediately feel about one of these memories. It's possible that therapy itself can push someone into depression just by repeatedly triggering a negative feedback loop regarding their past. Thoughts are just patterns after all.

 

[Diwi9]

Correlation does not equal causation, but I'm not one to knock out the concept that higher cortisol levels can impact immune function and possibly make one more vulnerable. Kids getting ME/CFS is about a 50/50 distribution between genders. It's much more skewed in adults toward females. Also, there is a bimodal aspect of onset in childhood and early middle-age. So we know there are clearly biological factors at play just by the demographics alone.