Fjorback, Lone Overby · Danish medical journal · 2012
This study tested whether mindfulness training (a mental technique focused on present-moment awareness) could help people with bodily distress syndrome—a condition with persistent physical symptoms that doctors cannot fully explain, which includes ME/CFS and fibromyalgia. Researchers compared mindfulness training combined with cognitive therapy to specialized medical treatment in 119 patients. Both treatments helped, but mindfulness therapy showed faster improvements and fewer patients needed disability pensions.
This study directly addresses ME/CFS as part of the bodily distress syndrome spectrum and demonstrates that a structured, teachable mindfulness intervention can produce clinical and socioeconomic benefits without harm. The finding that mindfulness led to faster symptom improvement and reduced disability pension rates suggests a potentially cost-effective, accessible tool that patients can learn to support their own recovery.
This study does not prove that mindfulness 'cures' ME/CFS or that symptoms are primarily psychological in origin. It compares two active treatments rather than mindfulness against placebo or no treatment, so we cannot determine how much benefit is specific to mindfulness versus general therapeutic attention. The study also does not establish mechanisms by which mindfulness improves physical outcomes, nor does it address whether improvements persist beyond 15 months.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Fjorback, Lone Overby (2012). Mindfulness and bodily distress.. Danish medical journal. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23171754/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-fjorback-2012-mindfulness-bodily,
author = {Fjorback, Lone Overby},
title = {Mindfulness and bodily distress.},
journal = {Danish medical journal},
year = {2012},
note = {PubMed: 23171754},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/fjorback-2012-mindfulness-bodily},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/fjorback-2012-mindfulness-bodily
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