Customer Reviews

Coping with Chronic Fatigue (Transaction Large Print Books)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Like most people, I find the mind-body connection fascinating. I also believe the best treatment combines the organic and mental health issues to be dealt with by patients of chronic biological illness.

Unfortuanately, Ms Chalder appears to ignore the organic in favor of indiscriminate psychiatric analysis. While I think this might be a helpful book in general for psychiatric patients who are dealing with being down in the dumps or tired, beyond that it appears to be limited in both scope and application. Thus the one star rating.

There appears to be very little here for patients biologically diagnosed with the grave and severely disabling disease known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), ME in the United Kingdom. The World Health Organization has listed the discrete disease, CFS under neurological disorders specifically excluding it from psychiatric disorders. While chronic fatigue should not be ignored, it is a common symptom of many grave illness such as cancer, liver disease and heart disease, as well as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

Patients diagnosed with the organic illness, CFS, should be careful regarding graded exercise. The reason is that Ms. Chalder's research on psychiatric patients, that may or may not have the neurological disorder known as CFS, cannot be applied to other patient poplulations. Biological research in the U.S. has shown that graded exercise can cause harm in people with this neurological disorder. Patients may find Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helpful in developing coping skills, but, the premise that one can cure themselves of organic disease by denying their biological illness is quite controversial and unfortunatlet unproven at this time. Many other psychological therapies provide help in dealing and coping with any chronic illness through support and affirmation.

I firmly believe mental health should be taken seriously, instead of being disparaged, but I believe there are more applicable and practical books available to the chronically ill, including neurologial CFS patients.

Unfortunately Chalder has repeatedly blurred the lines between chronic fatigue syndrome and chronic fatigue. In the process, she has essentially reduced her perception of CFS to mere chronic fatigue, and tries to apply the same treatment to both, completely ignoring the many physical, not cognitive or behaviour, dysfunctions that underly CFS.

Dangerously conflates the devastating neuro-immune disease ME ("CFS") with Idiopathic Chronic Fatigue (the symptom of fatigue with no known medical cause). The resulting prescription of graded exercise is extremely dangerous for people with ME. Buy this book if you want your disease to become worse.

I can recommend this book from personal experience. I suffered from CFS (ME) for two years about 10 years ago. I went to see Trudi in her London clinic and recovered fully as a direct result of the cognative therapy I received there. This book is a summary of the sensible approach taken by Trudi to treating CFS which combines increasing daily activity in a controlled consistent way with tackling some of the fixed (if seemingly logical) beliefs about the best way to get better which many sufferers have that can in fact hinder their own recovery. If you are suffering from CFS and are at a loss as to what to do to recover, do give this approach a try. You will stop having to wait to get better and will find you can do something effective to speed up your recovery.

I can recommend this book from personal experience. I suffered from CFS (ME) for two years about 10 years ago. I went to see Trudi in her London clinic and recovered fully as a direct result of the cognative therapy I received there. This book is a summary of the sensible approach taken by Trudi to treating CFS which combines increasing daily activity in a controlled consistent way with tackling some of the fixed (if seemingly logical) beliefs about the best way to get better which many sufferers have that can in fact hinder their own recovery. If you are suffering from CFS and are at a loss as to what to do to recover, do give this approach a try. You will stop having to wait to get better and will find you can do something effective to speed up your recovery.