Mind or Body? A Treatment for ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome by Jenny Lynn of Open Mind Therapy

Psychotherapist and Hypnotherapist pulls together research from Psychoneuroimmunology to make sense of the condition ME or now Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.  Her Grand (Re-)Unification Theory of the 21^st century looks at how mind and body are one and that the split of the  two has caused, even, the very diseases it aims to treat, stigmatising and isolating people with clinical and symptom led diagnoses that do not reference the personality of the sufferer.

ME, or to give it its’ full name, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, has earned itself, over recent medical history, the unenviable status in the popular imagination as a condition that is ‘all in the mind’.   Symptoms can vary anything from mild fatigue to, fuzzy thinking, aching limbs, dizziness among others, and, in some cases, an inability to carry one’s own weight.  Sufferers are often sent on a long journey from the GP to haematology for blood tests to psychiatry, Cognitive Behavioural Therapists, NHS nutritionists, and when all that fails, to alternatives such as reflexology, alternative nutritional specialists, kinesiologists and so on.  And still there are no guarantees of successful treatment. 

General lack of knowledge about the nature of ME and why certain people are affected with it means that most GPs have to exclude all other possibilities before they can accurately diagnose ME.  And in many cases, where GPs themselves do not believe in the condition, it can be left undiagnosed for many years.  Sufferers will turn up to the surgery when symptoms get bad and often be prescribed anti depressants, though they are not suffering from primary depression.  Or perhaps they are prescribed some other psychiatric drug that might stabilise moods, though mood swings and depression tend to result precisely because of the undiagnosed ME.

The longer the condition remains undiagnosed and untreated, the more the personality learns to identify with the disease, and accepts the condition on a subconscious level as just “how things are” in the life of the sufferer.  The condition can breed a lack of hope, a deep sadness because of the loss of a lifestyle they formerly enjoyed and a general belief that they will never recover.  And modern medical intervention tends to confirm that belief as most attempts conventionally to treat this condition fail.

Having never met sufferers prior to 4 years ago, Lynn was fortunate enough to be able to treat a number of patients consecutively as local GP’s were brave enough to send their patients to her, clutching at straws in many instances.  As she listened she heard a set of beliefs that were stunningly similar in all cases, without exception, of sufferers with ME.

Sufferers have lived since childhood in an environment where they measure their worth by how well they achieve or by what they do, usually for their primary carers.  Sometimes there is an abuse history, but often there is not.  What typifies sufferers is the belief that “I am not worth anything unless I can do things to show others that I am worthy.”  The converse of that of course is that “when I am ill therefore, and can do nothing, I’m not worth anything”.  This feeling of worthlessness puts added anxiety and pressure on the sufferer as they strive to prove they are indeed worth something by doing.  Then the ME boom-bust cycle kicks in and sufferers become caught in a psychological trap of using all their energy to prove they are still effective, and then becoming exhausted for days or weeks after until the body starts to recover. 

Sufferers will demonstrate their belief systems in their words and actions.   Not only does the pressure of measuring up to some arbitrary idea of what is deemed worthy govern their days, but also the fear that they have no voice.  That if they speak, no one will hear them.  It is safer for many to not speak and to not suffer the rejection of not being heard.  This often comes from a childhood, idyllic or otherwise, where a child needed to hide or control their own feelings in order not to upset their mother.  It is important to emphasise here, that these beliefs can be deeply buried and sufferers are often not conscious of them.

This outlook or belief structure causes excessive stress on the organism.  Though unconscious of the extent of the stress because the immune system is designed to deal with fight/flight responses, eventually it may take a viral infection or a shock of some sort to overload the immune system so that it starts to close down and reduce the organism to a state of exhaustion. It is important to identify that the sufferer is unconscious of their stress levels because they have lived with their belief systems for many years.  This is where hypnosis, of an analytical rather than suggestion nature, attempts to bypass the conscious mind and reveal to the sufferer what their bodies will tell them is an extremely stressful way of looking at the world.

The world of PNI or psychoneuroimmunology sheds light on the above.  It was proven as long ago as the 50’s by Robert Ader that the immune system itself, has a memory.  That it will remember without any reference to our conscious minds.  Rats who were made ill on drugged flavoured water and, once withdrawn, subsequently recovered will become ill again to the same extent, on undrugged but identically flavoured water.  And Hans Selye as long ago as the 20’s identified that an excess production of adrenalin caused by stress  will cause adrenal exhaustion and ultimately, all of the symptoms we today identify as being Chronic Fatigue.  Ellen Sue Stern in her book, “The Indispensable Woman” and “Running on Empty”, written in the 80’s identify symptoms and mind traps of the indispensable woman that equate to symptoms of ME/CFS.

These are just a few of the pieces of evidence that exist that help to understand and validate the sufferers’ experiences.

But how to recover?  Open Mind’s approach, developed during the last 4 years, attempts to change not only the mental and emotional beliefs, but also the physical beliefs stored in the body during a lifetime. Change never comes easily, but with careful listening, reflecting and with the use of analytical hypnosis the sufferer slowly but surely starts to regain control of their symptoms.  Open Mind also recognises the value of super nutrition and supplementation to assist the healing of the immune system. But the greatest healing of all takes place when sufferers know they have been understood, have been heard, validated, and have also understood the underlying causes of their dis-ease.

So is ME really all in the mind? Or is it really in the body?  Perhaps the Grand (Re-) Unification Theory of the 21^st Century should be the theory of mind and body being one and not only being related, but inherently one and the same. Lynn has called ME a spiritual disease.  “The word spiritual does not relate in the least to a religious doctrine, but to that broad understanding of who we are and where we belong in the world”.  Many sufferers are searching for identity. 

Open Mind trains practising psychotherapists and hypnotherapists to treat ME/CFS.  It is time for the mind and body to resume their alliance and for therapists to earn themselves a first rate reputation for treating a condition where conventional medical approaches fail.  The sooner you train, the sooner we can join together on Open Mind’s register where hypnotherapists and psychotherapists become the centre for excellence in the treatment of this condition and perhaps, in a few short years, the first line of enquiry and not the last resort.

If you would like to train with Jenny Lynn to experience how to develop this approach Open Mind is running courses in 16^th, 17^th and 18^th February 07 in Manchester, May in the Essex Institute and in October in Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire.  For further information please look on www.openmindtherapy.co.uk or www.essexinstitute.co.uk under ‘bootcamp’.