Li, Jie, Chan, Jessie S M, Chow, Amy Y M et al. · Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2015 · DOI
This study looked at how grief affects people with ME/CFS-like illness and tested whether a traditional Chinese exercise called Qigong could help. People who were grieving had more mental fatigue and lower physical quality of life than those not grieving. After 5 weeks of Qigong classes plus home practice, grieving participants who did Qigong improved more in fatigue, mood, spiritual well-being, and quality of life compared to those who didn't do Qigong.
This study identifies grief as a significant stressor that worsens ME/CFS symptoms and demonstrates that a low-cost, accessible mind-body intervention may provide meaningful relief across physical, mental, and spiritual dimensions. For patients managing both grief and chronic fatigue, Qigong offers a potential non-pharmacological treatment option.
This study does not establish Qigong as a cure or primary treatment for ME/CFS itself, only as a potential supportive intervention for bereaved patients with CFS-like illness. The study cannot determine whether improvements resulted from Qigong specifically, placebo effects, social support from group sessions, or a combination of factors. Results cannot be generalized to all ME/CFS populations or cultural contexts without further research.
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
Li, Jie, Chan, Jessie S M, Chow, Amy Y M, Yuen, Lai Ping, & Chan, Cecilia L W (2015). From Body to Mind and Spirit: Qigong Exercise for Bereaved Persons with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome-Like Illness.. Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/631410
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-li-2015-body-mind,
author = {Li, Jie and Chan, Jessie S M and Chow, Amy Y M and Yuen, Lai Ping and Chan, Cecilia L W},
title = {From Body to Mind and Spirit: Qigong Exercise for Bereaved Persons with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome-Like Illness.},
journal = {Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM},
year = {2015},
doi = {10.1155/2015/631410},
note = {PubMed: 26504478},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/li-2015-body-mind},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/li-2015-body-mind
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