out2lunch
Senior Member
- Messages
- 204
While I agree with many of us not possessing adequate coping skills in dealing with long-term chronic illnesses such as ours, I wouldn't necessarily refer to this training as CBT. I've had CBT in the past, and the primary foundation of the therapy was the underlying belief that my emotional problems fueled my physical symptoms and were the result of my faulty outlook and subsequent reactions to events occurring in my daily life interacting with others.Not sure I can entirely agree with this. Certainly CBT is not a treatment that will improve ME/CFS somatic symptoms, whether it is 'good' CBT or 'bad' CBT. To improve our health we need medical treatment, not psychology.
However, some people with ME/CFS don't naturally develop the coping skills they need in order to function with a disabling chronic disease. Those people might benefit from the type of CBT that helps the patient learn to live with extremely difficult situations. There are (sometimes) ways to deal with tragedy that can help you get through it. Good CBT can help you face reality and move on with life.
CBT makes not one iota of difference to somatic symptoms, nor does every patient need it. Plenty of patients manage to cope without therapy, just like some people cope with divorce without therapy, but others benefit from some counseling. CBT should never be considered a treatment for ME/CFS, nor should it be recommended for all patients any more than it is recommended for every cancer or MS patient.
That said, I wouldn't put a penny of donated or government money towards 'good' CBT until we have reliable, well-accepted medical treatments available to all patients. It's a matter of priorities.
As for BPS theories -- total BS. They have no solid evidence to support them and should be tossed into the pseudoscience trash bin.
Learning coping mechanisms for living with chronic fatigue or pain never assumes the symptoms stem from poor coping mechanisms. As a chronic disease patient, you're handed a mental guidebook to use when life overwhelms you. The professional atmosphere of such a therapy environment is positive and uplifting, rather than negative and judgmental. Big, big difference.
As for BPS... rubbish just about covers it.
BPS doesn't even qualify as manure given its propensity to kill living organisms rather than help them bloom.