Ridsdale, L, Godfrey, E, Chalder, T et al. · The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2001
This study compared two types of therapy—cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) and counselling—to help people with chronic fatigue who visit their doctors. Over six months, both treatments appeared equally helpful, reducing fatigue symptoms in about half the patients. The researchers found that counselling worked just as well as CBT, suggesting that the choice between them can depend on practical factors like cost and availability.
This study is among the limited primary care evidence examining psychological interventions for chronic fatigue and CFS. By demonstrating therapeutic equivalence between CBT and counselling, it informs treatment allocation decisions and suggests that access to psychological support—regardless of specific modality—may be beneficial for fatigued patients in primary care settings.
This study does not establish that either therapy cures or optimally manages ME/CFS long-term; only 47% achieved normal fatigue levels, and the study lasted just six months. It does not prove that psychological mechanisms are the primary driver of CFS pathology, nor does it test whether these interventions are effective for severe or housebound patients with ME/CFS. The findings also cannot establish superiority of either therapy over other evidence-based approaches.
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
Ridsdale, L, Godfrey, E, Chalder, T, Seed, P, King, M, Wallace, P, et al. (2001). Chronic fatigue in general practice: is counselling as good as cognitive behaviour therapy? A UK randomised trial.. The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11271868/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-ridsdale-2001-chronic-fatigue,
author = {Ridsdale, L and Godfrey, E and Chalder, T and Seed, P and King, M and Wallace, P and Wessely, S and Fatigue Trialists' Group},
title = {Chronic fatigue in general practice: is counselling as good as cognitive behaviour therapy? A UK randomised trial.},
journal = {The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners},
year = {2001},
note = {PubMed: 11271868},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/ridsdale-2001-chronic-fatigue},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/ridsdale-2001-chronic-fatigue
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