Cognitive behavior therapy for chronic fatigue syndrome: a case study.

The case of a 26-year old woman with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is presented. Multidimensional assessment showing severe debilitating fatigue and considerable psychological, social and occupational impairment confirmed the diagnosis. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) was based on a tested causal model of CFS and individual behavioral analyses. Key elements in CBT were process variables from the CFS model, like sense of control, causal attributions, physical activity and focusing on bodily functions. Goals were recovery from fatigue, returning to work and relapse prevention. The course of therapy is described in detail to illustrate difficulties in treating CFS. Assessments were made five times, at baseline and at 8, 14, 21 and 33 months. Comparison of the pretest, post-test and follow-up scores of the outcome variables, fatigue and functional impairment and of the process variables showed clinically significant improvement from the range of CFS patients to the range of healthy controls.