Merkes, Monika · Australian journal of primary health · 2010 · DOI
This review looked at 15 studies testing whether mindfulness meditation programs (called MBSR) help people with chronic illnesses feel better. The studies included people with ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, chronic pain, and other long-term conditions. All 15 studies found that people who participated in these programs experienced improvements in their symptoms, mood, and quality of life, with no negative effects reported.
This review is relevant to ME/CFS patients because it explicitly includes ME/CFS in the evidence synthesis for mindfulness-based interventions, suggesting potential psychological and quality-of-life benefits. For the ME/CFS research community, it provides a broad-based evidence summary that MBSR may complement standard care, though study-specific limitations require careful interpretation regarding ME/CFS-specific outcomes.
This review does not prove that MBSR treats the underlying biological mechanisms of ME/CFS or prevents post-exertional malaise. The results are predominantly based on self-report measures, which may not capture objective disease progression or relapse rates. The review does not establish whether improvements are due to MBSR itself versus placebo effects, expectancy, or increased social support from group participation.
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
Merkes, Monika (2010). Mindfulness-based stress reduction for people with chronic diseases.. Australian journal of primary health. https://doi.org/10.1071/PY09063
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-merkes-2010-mindfulness-based,
author = {Merkes, Monika},
title = {Mindfulness-based stress reduction for people with chronic diseases.},
journal = {Australian journal of primary health},
year = {2010},
doi = {10.1071/PY09063},
note = {PubMed: 20815988},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/merkes-2010-mindfulness-based},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/merkes-2010-mindfulness-based
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