A hypnotherapeutic approach to the treatment of myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.)
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Date
1999-11
Authors
Welch, Jennifer Mary Justine
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
In the absence of a reliable biological marker, much professional and public non-acceptance
surrounds the diagnosis of M.E. using the diagnostic criteria formulated by the Centre for
Disease Control (CDC) (Fukada et al, 1994) in Atlanta, Georgia, or the Oxford (Sharpe et al
(1991)) or Australian (Lloyd et al, 1988) criteria. Research thus far has focused primarily on
the etiology of the disease from a medical bias debating whether M.E. is a physical or
psychological disease (Hyde, Bastien & Jain, 1992; Hickie, Lloyd & Wakefield, 1992). This
Cartesian dichotomy between mind and body is presently challenged by the burgeoning
evidence from psychoneuroimmunology and clinical hypnotherapy that mind and body
should be conceptualised as interreactive, specifically that emotion drives the body (Rossi,
1994). In practical terms the M.E. patient typically is unable to manage home or employment
duties for periods from one to three years, sometimes longer. Medical attention is focused on
alleviating symptomatology with limited temporary effect; the sparse attention given to
psychological programmes in the literature focuses on cognitive behavioural therapy (Sharpe,
1996), but in practice, purely cognitive interventions suitable for depressed patients are
generally ineffectual with M.E. sufferers, especially in the initial stages, because of the
organic nature of the disease. (Shepherd, 1996).
This research aims to describe a different therapeutic approach to M.E. using the paradigms
and power for change of clinical hypnotherapy:
i) the chief need in the literature is for an effective therapeutic model for intervention
and rehabilitation to the highest possible level of function in the shortest possible time
based on
ii) a study which furthers the understanding of interreactive physiological, cognitive
and affective aspects of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis which would be useful to both medical
personnel and psychologists.
Description
Keywords
Chronic fatique syndrome, Hypnotism -- Therapeutic use, Nervous system -- Diseases -- Treatment, Thesis (Ph.D. (Psychology))--University of the Free State, 1999