Illness beliefs and treatment outcome in chronic fatigue syndrome.
Deale, A, Chalder, T, Wessely, S·Journal of psychosomatic research·1998
This study examined whether what ME/CFS patients believe about the cause of their illness affects how well they recover with treatment. Researchers found that patients' beliefs about whether their condition was physical didn't predict treatment success. However, patients who changed their views about avoiding exercise and activity—and actually started doing more—improved more with cognitive-behavior therapy than with relaxation alone.