Effectiveness of Acceptance Commitment Therapy or Micro Breaks in Patients With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic
About this trial
This is an interventional treatment trial for Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
- Diagnosis for CFS/ME
- Psychiatric clinical stability in the past 3 months:
- No diagnostic change to other categories of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10)
- No psychiatric inpatient treatments
- No psychiatric emergency treatments
- No suicide attempts
- Possession of internet access
- Sufficient skills to use electronic devices
- The willingness to engage in the described therapeutic procedures or interventions (ACT, MBEL)
Exclusion Criteria:
- Insufficient knowledge of German
- Severe psychiatric disorders (e.g. personality and posttraumatic stress disorders, dissociative and psychotic disorders, intelligence reduction, untreated attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and acute suicidal tendencies
- Untreated or severe internal medicine disorders e.g., thyroid dysfunction, central and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (i.e., apnea-hypopnea index >15 and/or "high-risk group for obstructive sleep apnea" according to the Berlin Questionnaire)
- Cardiovascular disease such as chronic heart failure
- Severe or untreated neurological diseases (e.g. Parkinson's disease, dementia, restless legs syndrome, narcolepsy)
- Alcohol and drug dependence
- Initiation of psychopharmacotherapy at a dosage provided for guideline-appropriate treatment of a mental disorder according to the Drug Compendium in the past 3 months
- Start of other psychotherapy procedures in the last 3 months
- Other parallel therapy methods (e.g. acupuncture, qigong, osteopathy)
- Somatic (sleep-disrupting) treatments, cortisone treatment, or radio-/chemotherapy in the last 6 months
Sites / Locations
- University Hospital of ZurichRecruiting
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Arm 2
Arm 3
Active Comparator
Active Comparator
No Intervention
Acceptance Commitment Therapy for chronic fatigue
Micro breaks in everyday life for chronic fatigue
Waiting Group
ACT for chronic fatigue involves psychoeducation on the clinical picture of CFS/ME and teaching coping strategies for dealing with symptoms, most notably fatigue, postexertional malaise, unrestful sleep, cognitive decline, and orthostatic dysregulation. For this purpose, the therapy manual designed for generalized anxiety disorders is adapted to the needs of patients with CFS, i.e., the exercises and worksheets that teach the acceptance- and mindfulness-based techniques are adapted to the symptoms (fatigue, powerlessness, unrestful sleep, among others). In addition, value goals and scopes of action are defined, in which the individual stress limits of each participant are identified and taken into account. In addition, it is recommended that the participants move within their respective energy limits under the regular evaluation of activity and rest phases using a diary, as well as regularly apply study-specific interventions between the appointments of group therapy.
Micro breaks in everyday life (MBEL) includes restructuring the patients' daily routine in terms of how they organize their breaks. A therapy manual is developed for this purpose, which is divided into three phases. In the first phase, patients learn to allow or integrate regular MB of one to five minutes in their daily routine. Appropriate examples are used to show when and where MB can be incorporated and this is practiced at home over the first few weeks until a routine has been established. Patients are encouraged to keep a break diary. In the second phase, the MBs are filled in with content. MB can be designed differently, e.g., with physical activity of moderate or high intensity, with short breathing or relaxation exercises, with nutrition or even with doing nothing. In the third phase, an individual optimization of the design of breaks in everyday life follows and an expansion towards meaningful mental time-out, a combination of relaxation break and mental activation.