Walach, Harald, Bosch, Holger, Lewith, George et al. · Psychotherapy and psychosomatics · 2008 · DOI
This study tested whether distant healing (a spiritual healing practice) could help people with ME/CFS. Over 400 patients were randomly assigned to receive healing treatment immediately or wait 6 months, with some patients knowing which group they were in and others kept unaware. After 6 months, the study found no significant improvement in mental or physical health from the distant healing itself, but patients who knew they were receiving treatment and expected to improve actually did feel somewhat better.
This rigorous RCT addresses a commonly used complementary therapy in ME/CFS populations, providing evidence that distant healing itself does not objectively improve health outcomes. The finding that expectation and blinding significantly influenced results highlights the importance of accounting for placebo effects and psychological factors when evaluating any ME/CFS intervention, and underscores the need for robust trial design.
This study does not prove that spiritual or subjective experiences have no value for ME/CFS patients—only that distant healing does not produce measurable improvements in standardized health metrics. It also does not establish whether other forms of spiritual practice, when experienced directly (not at a distance), might have different effects. The study cannot determine whether subtle or qualitative improvements unmeasured by the SF-36 occurred.
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
Walach, Harald, Bosch, Holger, Lewith, George, Naumann, Johannes, Schwarzer, Barbara, Falk, Sonja, et al. (2008). Effectiveness of distant healing for patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: a randomised controlled partially blinded trial (EUHEALS).. Psychotherapy and psychosomatics. https://doi.org/10.1159/000116609
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-walach-2008-effectiveness-distant,
author = {Walach, Harald and Bosch, Holger and Lewith, George and Naumann, Johannes and Schwarzer, Barbara and Falk, Sonja and Kohls, Niko and Haraldsson, Erlendur and Wiesendanger, Harald and Nordmann, Alain and Tomasson, Helgi and Prescott, Phil and Bucher, Heiner C},
title = {Effectiveness of distant healing for patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: a randomised controlled partially blinded trial (EUHEALS).},
journal = {Psychotherapy and psychosomatics},
year = {2008},
doi = {10.1159/000116609},
note = {PubMed: 18277062},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/walach-2008-effectiveness-distant},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/walach-2008-effectiveness-distant
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