ArticleHealth psychology open
The 'cognitive behavioural model' of chronic fatigue syndrome: Critique of a flawed model.
Article in Health psychology open. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- The evidence base for physiotherapy in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome when considering post-exertional malaise: a systematic review and narrative synthesis.Journal of translational medicine · 2021Pooled it
- Re-visiting professional ethics in psychotherapy: reflections on the use of talking therapies as a supportive adjunct for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and 'medically unexplained symptoms'.Journal of medical ethics · 2026Article
- Reframing ME/CFS: toward a unified mechanistic model of chronic post-infectious diseases.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Review
- Associations between heart rate and physical activity in people with post-COVID-19 condition accounting for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome symptoms.Journal of rehabilitation medicine · 2026Observational
- Patients' experiences of living with Long Covid and their beliefs about the role of psychology in their condition.Journal of health psychology · 2025Article
- Replicated blood-based biomarkers for myalgic encephalomyelitis not explicable by inactivity.EMBO molecular medicine · 2025Article
- Recovery from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue syndrome developed after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 vaccination: A case report.PCN reports : psychiatry and clinical neurosciences · 2025Article
- CBT and graded exercise therapy studies have proven that ME/CFS and long COVID are physical diseases, yet no one is aware of that.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2025Article
- Postacute Sequelae of COVID (PASC or Long COVID): An Evidenced-Based Approach.Open forum infectious diseases · 2024Review
- Article
- Why the Psychosomatic View on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Is Inconsistent with Current Evidence and Harmful to Patients.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Article
- 'I became more aware of my actions'-A qualitative longitudinal study of a health psychological group intervention for patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2023Article
- Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Post-COVID Syndrome: A Common Neuroimmune Ground?Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- What Primary Care Practitioners Need to Know about the New NICE Guideline for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in Adults.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- The Updated NICE Guidance Exposed the Serious Flaws in CBT and Graded Exercise Therapy Trials for ME/CFS.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Is It Useful to Question the Recovery Behaviour of Patients with ME/CFS or Long COVID?Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- A new clinical challenge: supporting patients coping with the long-term effects of COVID-19.Fatigue : biomedicine, health & behavior · 2022Article
- An Audit of UK Hospital Doctors' Knowledge and Experience of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2021Article
- Identifying and Managing Suicidality in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- A Molecular network approach reveals shared cellular and molecular signatures between chronic fatigue syndrome and other fatiguing illnesses.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis is a debilitating illness that greatly impacts the lives of sufferers. A cognitive behavioural model attempts to explain illness onset and continuance with a hypothesis that the illness is perpetuated by patients' irrational beliefs and avoidance behaviours. This theory underpins the promotion of cognitive behavioural therapy, a treatment that aims to change beliefs and behaviours. This article reports on a detailed review of the cognitive behavioural model. Our review finds that the model lacks high-quality evidential support, conflicts with accounts given by most patients and fails to account for accumulating biological evidence of pathological and physiological abnormalities found in patients. There is little scientific credibility in the claim that psycho-behavioural therapies are a primary treatment for this illness.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.