Need to be taught? The only useful 'teaching' I have had is from reading about other sufferers' experiences and learning from my own experience.
If something 'needs to be taught', who learned it in the first place, and how? Or did they just make it up, using guesswork?
Thank you for posting this quote. It provides a clear illustration of the fundamental error on which CBT/GET is based, and the rationale for the theory.
That is Pavlovian conditioning. It assumes that there is no real direct causal link between the stimulus/trigger and the consequences, or 'conditioned response'.
You can read about it here:
It does not apply to the adverse effects of exertion on ME sufferers, which is a genuine, biological effect.
Just to confuse matters, the proponents of CBT/GET also claim that we are 'deconditioned', in this case meaning physical deconditioning. Or are they really such rubbish psychs that they get the terms confused themselves? Or really clever psychs trying to distract people from the fact that their theory is based on Pavlovian conditioning by adding a reference to physical deconditioning?
They use both. Also from Clark & White (2005):
The role of graded exercise therapy in CFS
The theoretical basis of therapeutic exercise for CFS is the premise that, irrespective of its causes, patients experience fatigue after minimal exertion; and it is their subsequent prolonged avoidance of physical activity and exercise, due to either fear or belief that it will exacerbate their condition, that eventually leads them to experience decreased physical fitness, muscular strength and endurance.
Ellen Goudsmit points out some times that GET is based on conditioning also. "Like trained pigeons" is a phrase I think she uses.