Illness beliefs

The illness beliefs hypothesis posits that specific beliefs relating to ME/CFS are found in patients, and that these beliefs are maintaining factors which prevent recovery, and may even increase the severity of the illness. These illness beliefs have been described aa "negative", "dysfunctional" and "unhelpful" beliefs which, according to this hypothesis, result in "maladaptive" behaviors that prevent people recovering from ME/CFS.

The illness beliefs hypothesis is part of the biopsychosocial model and used to justify the use of cognitive behavioral therapy as a primary treatment for ME and CFS, for example in the PACE trial, and the similar FINE trial.

Treatment
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is proposed to encourage the person to challenge and alter their illness beliefs, and any behaviors that result from these beliefs. The illness beliefs may be referred to as "unhelpful thoughts", which the person should work to identify, and then look at evidence for or against each belief, then re-evaluate these beliefs. CBT involves finding actions (behaviors) that result from the unhelpful thoughts (illness beliefs) and deciding which behaviors to change. The CBT model also states that changing behaviors related to the illness can change the thoughts linked to those behaviors.

The cognitive behavior therapy used for ME/CFS is specific to the illness, and has components not found in CBT that has been used with patients who have cancer, Multiple Schlerosis or other chronic illnesses.