Split-Second Unlearning: Developing a Theory of Psychophysiological Dis-ease

Psychophysiological “stress” underpins many conditions including anxiety, depression, phobias, chronic fatigue syndrome and non-specific musculoskeletal pain such as fibromyalgia. In this article we develop an understanding of chronic psychophysiological stress from a psychological educational perspective, by drawing on supporting evidence that significant emotional events in early life (traumatic and benign) can influence health and well-being later in life. We suggest that traumatic events instigate psychophysiological “stress” responses and the formation of emotional memory images (EMIs) within very short time frames, i.e., “split-second learning.” Once formed these emotional memories are triggered in daily living “re-playing” psychophysiological stress responses, resulting in chronic psychophysiological “dis-ease.” We describe a novel therapeutic approach to scan clients for mannerisms signifying a subconscious “freeze-like” stress response that involves the client as a curious observer within their own experience, feeding back the non-verbal cues as they arrive in the moment. By breaking down the observable fragments of their split-second Pavlovian response to the trigger, clients can detach their EMI from the psychophysiology stress response, i.e., “split-second unlearning.” Our split-second unlearning model recognizes the EMI as a barrier to moving forward and needs to be unlearned before the client can become naturally adaptive again. We argue that this approach places the client at the center of the work without the need of getting bogged down in a life-long narrative.

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Bioenergetic and Proteomic Profiling of Immune Cells in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Patients: An Exploratory Study

Biomolecules ◽

10.3390/biom11070961 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 961

Author(s):

Paula Fernandez-Guerra ◽

Ana C. Gonzalez-Ebsen ◽

Susanne E. Boonen ◽

Julie Courraud ◽

Niels Gregersen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ◽

Complex Disease ◽

Mononuclear Cells ◽

Coupling Efficiency ◽

Well Being ◽

Chronic Fatigue ◽

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis ◽

Flux Analysis ◽

Proteomic Profiling ◽

Fatigue Syndrome

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a heterogeneous, debilitating, and complex disease. Along with disabling fatigue, ME/CFS presents an array of other core symptoms, including autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction, sustained inflammation, altered energy metabolism, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Here, we evaluated patients' symptomatology and the mitochondrial metabolic parameters in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and plasma from a clinically well-characterised cohort of six ME/CFS patients compared to age- and gender-matched controls. We performed a comprehensive cellular assessment using bioenergetics (extracellular flux analysis) and protein profiles (quantitative mass spectrometry-based proteomics) together with self-reported symptom measures of fatigue, ANS dysfunction, and overall physical and mental well-being. This ME/CFS cohort presented with severe fatigue, which correlated with the severity of ANS dysfunction and overall physical well-being. PBMCs from ME/CFS patients showed significantly lower mitochondrial coupling efficiency. They exhibited proteome alterations, including altered mitochondrial metabolism, centred on pyruvate dehydrogenase and coenzyme A metabolism, leading to a decreased capacity to provide adequate intracellular ATP levels. Overall, these results indicate that PBMCs from ME/CFS patients have a decreased ability to fulfill their cellular energy demands.

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Well-being in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: The role of acceptance

Journal of Psychosomatic Research ◽

10.1016/j.jpsychores.2006.04.015 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 61 (5) ◽

pp. 595-599 ◽

Cited By ~ 66

Author(s):

Stefaan Van Damme ◽

Geert Crombez ◽

Boudewijn Van Houdenhove ◽

An Mariman ◽

Walter Michielsen

Keyword(s):

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ◽

Well Being ◽

Chronic Fatigue ◽

Fatigue Syndrome

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Chronic Pain and Fatigue: Associations with Religion and Spirituality

Pain Research and Management ◽

10.1155/2008/263751 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 13 (5) ◽

pp. 383-388 ◽

Cited By ~ 42

Author(s):

Marilyn Baetz ◽

Rudy Bowen

Keyword(s):

Chronic Pain ◽

Well Being ◽

Chronic Fatigue ◽

Canadian Community Health Survey ◽

Health Care Use ◽

Spiritual Support ◽

Religion And Spirituality ◽

Psychological Well Being ◽

Migraine Headaches ◽

Fatigue Syndrome

BACKGROUND: Conditions with chronic, non-life-threatening pain and fatigue remain a challenge to treat, and are associated with high health care use. Understanding psychological and psychosocial contributing and coping factors, and working with patients to modify them, is one goal of management. An individual’s spirituality and/or religion may be one such factor that can influence the experience of chronic pain or fatigue.METHODS: The Canadian Community Health Survey (2002) obtained data from 37,000 individuals 15 years of age or older. From these data, four conditions with chronic pain and fatigue were analyzed together – fibromyalgia, back pain, migraine headaches and chronic fatigue syndrome. Additional data from the survey were used to determine how religion and spirituality affect psychological well-being, as well as the use of various coping methods.RESULTS: Religious persons were less likely to have chronic pain and fatigue, while those who were spiritual but not affiliated with regular worship attendance were more likely to have those conditions. Individuals with chronic pain and fatigue were more likely to use prayer and seek spiritual support as a coping method than the general population. Furthermore, chronic pain and fatigue sufferers who were both religious and spiritual were more likely to have better psychological well-being and use positive coping strategies.INTERPRETATION: Consideration of an individual’s spirituality and/or religion, and how it may be used in coping may be an additional component to the overall management of chronic pain and fatigue.

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Effect of Mindfulness Sessions on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Job Satisfaction of Nurses: A Randomized Clinical Trial

10.21203/rs.3.rs-567623/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Nasrin Bonakdari ◽

Nadereh Mohammadi ◽

Mohammad Reza Taghvizadeh Yazdi ◽

Reza Norouzadeh ◽

Mohammad Abbasinia ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Job Satisfaction ◽

Clinical Trial ◽

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ◽

Randomized Clinical Trial ◽

Intervention Group ◽

Clinical Trial Design ◽

Well Being ◽

Chronic Fatigue ◽

Control Group ◽

Fatigue Syndrome

Abstract Background: Nursing is considered a stressful profession, so nurses are at higher risk of physical and mental illness. Mindfulness is an important concept for nursing with practical implications for nurse well-being, development, and quality nursing care sustainability.Objectives: This study identified mindfulness sessions' effect on nurses' chronic fatigue syndrome(CFS) and job satisfaction )JS.(Methods: A randomized clinical trial design was conducted on 80 nurses to intervention and control groups. The intervention in the intervention group was eight mindfulness sessions training, and the control group had no intervention. Nurses' CFS and JS were assessed using the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire and The Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory.Results: After implementing a mindfulness-based stress reduction program, the intervention group nurses reported lower CFS and higher JS than the control group(p<0.005). Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate the effectiveness of mindfulness programs on improving nurses' chronic fatigue and JS. Since CFS and job dissatisfaction are two disturbing elements for nurses' optimal performance in professional and personal life, this study can recommend the implementation of mindfulness exercises as a routine, operational and uncomplicated program in nurses.

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Addressing the Long COVID Crisis: Integrative Health and Long COVID

Global Advances in Health and Medicine ◽

10.1177/21649561211056597 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 ◽

pp. 216495612110565

Author(s):

Alan Roth ◽

Pan San Chan ◽

Wayne Jonas

Keyword(s):

Well Being ◽

Chronic Fatigue ◽

Lifestyle Changes ◽

Integrative Health ◽

Fatigue Syndrome ◽

Cerebrovascular Events ◽

Wide Range ◽

Health Related ◽

And Behavior ◽

Patients Experience

While COVID-19 has killed millions of people globally, its lasting effects on the health and well-being of entire populations are just becoming clear. As many as 30% of those diagnosed with COVID-19 report continuing health-related problems, regardless of the severity of the initial infection. Given the infection rate in the world, that translates to between 5.4 and 17.9 million globally; about 700 000 in the US. The syndrome goes by many names; here we call it “long COVID.” Patients experience a wide range of symptoms, including serious organ system effects such as pulmonary fibrosis, myocarditis, new diabetes diagnoses, stroke, and other cerebrovascular events. They also experience ongoing pain, fatigue, and cognitive dysfunction. We suggest here that these patients require an integrative health approach, one that combines traditional medical management, non-pharmacological approaches, and behavior and lifestyle changes. Such an approach has been shown to be beneficial in other chronic illnesses such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and post-Lyme disease.

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Mechanismen der Bewältigung von Stress

Archives Animal Breeding ◽

10.5194/aab-43-441-2000 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 43 (5) ◽

pp. 441-450 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

E. von Borell

Keyword(s):

Stress Response ◽

Stress Responses ◽

Physical Nature ◽

Well Being ◽

Farm Animals ◽

Neural Pathways ◽

Neural Signals ◽

Psychological Stressors ◽

Central Nervous Systems ◽

Neurophysiological Mechanisms

Abstract. Title of the paper: Coping strategies during stress The response to Stressors requires a progression of events beginning with sensing and signalling the animal's various biological mechanisms that a threat exists. These events are followed by activation of neurophysiological mechanisms to mount a biological effort to resist and prevent major damage. The various sensory detectors not only receive the information but transform that information into neural signals that are transmitted to either or botn cognitive and non-cognitive centres of the nervous system to generate a co-ordinated response to the challenge. The hypothalamic-adrenal medullary system involves the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, the sympathetic neural pathways to the adrenal medulla, and the release of epinephrine by the adrenal gland. This short acting stressresponse was originally proposed by W. Cannon and is referred to as the Fight-Flight Syndrome (FFS). The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) stress-response System represents a longer-term, sustained response to Stressors and was conceptualised by Hans Selye (General Adaptation Syndrome, GAS). The major adrenal cortical hormones are corticosteroids and aldosterone. These two classical stress response Systems have been linked to different coping pattern in that FFS is primarily activated in situations of threat of control, whereas the pituitary-adrenocortical System is activated in situations of loss of control. Besides these classical physiological Systems other Systems are activated during stress, including the immune system. Recent research suggests that the endocrine, immune and central nervous Systems interact and respond to stressful Stimuli in a co-ordinated manner. The presence of hormones, neurotransmitters and receptors common to all three Systems Supports the view that communication exists between these Systems. Psychological Stressors perceived as threats may be equally important as those of a physical nature in challenging coping mechanisms. Situations of uncertainty, social pressure and fear are potent Stressors with relevance for the well-being of animals, leading to severe damage to specific target organs and tissues or even to death in some species. Studies on stress responses in farm animals are often conducted on the basis of single physiological alterations or irregular behavioural phenomena that might be difficult to interpret. Non-invasive methods for measuring stress-indicating parameters have been developed in addition to classical descriptive behavioural observations, allowing an evaluation of stress by multiple criteria under different housing conditions and handling procedures.

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Molecular evidence of autophagy impairment as serum level of ATG13 is elevated in patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome: two independent case-control studies

10.21203/rs.3.rs-925403/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Avik Roy ◽

Carl Gunnar Gottschalk ◽

Daniel Peterson ◽

Konstance Knox ◽

Marco Maynard ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Stress Response ◽

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ◽

Chronic Fatigue ◽

Case Control ◽

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis ◽

Microglial Cells ◽

Case Control Studies ◽

Serum Samples ◽

Fatigue Syndrome ◽

Independent Case

Abstract Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome is a multisystem illness characterized with extreme muscle fatigue associated with pain, neurocognitive impairment, and chronic inflammation. Despite intense investigation, the molecular mechanism of this disease is still unknown. Here we report two independent case-control studies to demonstrate that autophagy proteins are strongly upregulated in the serum of ME/CFS patients indicative of severe impairment in metabolic events of autophagy. Serum samples collected from two healthy and two age-matched patients were assayed for protein aggregation, screened for autophagy-related factors via an antibody array, quantified with densitometric analyses, and finally reconfirmed with ELISA analyses. Based on that double-blinded and gender-balanced study, the levels of ATG13, p62, and alpha-synuclein (α-syn) were found to be consistently elevated in the serum samples of these two ME/CFS patients. Moreover, our microglia-based oxidative stress response study and nitrite analyses indicated that serum samples of ME/CFS patients evoked the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitrite in human HMC3 microglial cells, whereas neutralization of ATG13 was shown to strongly diminish the production of ROS and nitrite demonstrating the de novo effect bloodborne autophagy factors on inducing the stress response in microglial cells. Collectively, our results indicate that the impairment of autophagy followed by upregulations of autophagy markers especially ATG13 in serum could be a pathological hallmark in ME/CFS.

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Fatigue heralding multiple sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis Journal ◽

10.1177/1352458513477924 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 19 (11) ◽

pp. 1526-1532 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

Joseph R Berger ◽

Jennifer Pocoski ◽

Ronald Preblick ◽

Susan Boklage

Keyword(s):

Multiple Sclerosis ◽

Important Determinant ◽

Well Being ◽

Chronic Fatigue ◽

Common Symptom ◽

Newly Diagnosed ◽

Database Analysis ◽

Fatigue Syndrome ◽

Retrospective Database Analysis ◽

Retrospective Database

Background: Fatigue is a common symptom in multiple sclerosis (MS) and is an important determinant of overall well-being and disability. Objective: To assess the frequency with which fatigue precedes the diagnosis of MS using a retrospective database analysis. Methods: Between January 1, 2003 and September 30, 2008, patients diagnosed with fatigue with and without fatigue-related medications within a 3-year period prior to newly diagnosed MS were identified from the MarketScan Databases. All statistical analysis was performed using SAS. Results: Of the 16,976 patients with MS in the overall population, 5305 (31.3%) were newly diagnosed with MS and had three years of continuous healthcare coverage prior to MS diagnosis. Of these patients, 1534 (28.9%) were labeled with chronic fatigue syndrome (ICD9-780.71) or malaise or fatigue (ICD9-780.79) prior to the diagnosis of MS. One-third of these patients were labeled with fatigue one to two years before the diagnosis; 30.8% were diagnosed only with fatigue and had no other MS symptoms prior to their MS diagnosis. Among the patients diagnosed with fatigue, 10.4% were also prescribed medication for fatigue. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that fatigue may herald MS, often by years. A careful history for transient neurological symptoms and a physical examination is warranted in any patient presenting with fatigue.

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Endocrine stress responses in chronic fatigue syndrome

International Congress Series ◽

10.1016/s0531-5131(02)00679-9 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 1241 ◽

pp. 41-46 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

J Gaab ◽

D Hüster ◽

R Peisen ◽

V Engert ◽

V Heitz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ◽

Stress Responses ◽

Chronic Fatigue ◽

Fatigue Syndrome

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Living with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: Experiences of occupational disruption for adults in Australia

British Journal of Occupational Therapy ◽

10.1177/03080226211020656 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 030802262110206

Author(s):

Chelsea Bartlett ◽

Julie L Hughes ◽

Laura Miller

Keyword(s):

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ◽

Lived Experience ◽

Well Being ◽

Chronic Fatigue ◽

Health Condition ◽

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Personal Support ◽

Fatigue Syndrome ◽

Occupational Participation

Introduction Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a poorly understood, highly stigmatised health condition that has widespread impacts on the individual. Currently, there is limited understanding of the ME/CFS experience from an occupational perspective within Australia. This study aimed to explore the lived experience of ME/CFS and subsequent disruption to occupational participation for adults living in Australia. Methods Using descriptive case study design, five participants with ME/CFS in Australia completed semi-structured interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data. Findings Themes identified were organised using the Person-Environment-Occupation model. Participants reported systemic changes to previous levels of physical, cognitive and affective functioning, resulting in significant occupational disruption and poor well-being. Occupational prioritisation was followed by a loss of occupations starting with leisure, then productivity and eventually self-care. Environmental barriers to participation included stigma and misunderstanding of ME/CFS, financial hardship, lack of appropriate health services and strains on personal support networks and relationships. Conclusion Changes to occupational performance following the onset of ME/CFS caused significant occupational disruption and resulted in limited participation which narrowed over time. There is a clear role for occupational therapy to intervene early to prevent significant negative impacts on occupational participation for people with ME/CFS.

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