Healing from CFS and Fibromyalgia

A range of treatments is generally tried by people in their quest for healing from  CFS and Fibromyalgia and other chronic illnesses.  Finding ways to alleviate physical symptoms and to improve the quality of life is paramount.  It is impossible to ignore the debilitation and chronic pain,  so the primary focus is on the physical aspects of the condition. When we are seeking healing from CFS and Fibromyalgia, we pay attention to treating the physical debilitation, but other factors contributing to the condition can go completely unnoticed. We may be completely unaware of the non- physical components to the bodily symptoms that we experience and so we may overlook the possibilities of further healing benefits.

When we concentrate only on the physical aspects of ourselves for healing, we are missing a significant part of the story of our condition. We know that we are affected emotionally by our illness – we can be frustrated, disappointed, angry, upset, depressed – but we may fail to recognise the impact that our emotions have on our energy and pain levels.

Negative emotions are draining and so contribute to our overall condition of fatigue and pain. Even without us recognising, it may be the case that our negative emotions, which are linked to unpleasant or traumatic past experiences, have made a significant contribution to our illness.

This does not mean that the condition we experience as physical debilitation and pain is all in the head, or that it’s not a physical illness at all. It is simply the recognition and acknowledgement that we are more than the physical aspects of ourselves: we are physical and emotional beings in one body, and we cannot isolate one part of ourselves without the whole person being affected.

Our health is dependent on all aspects of our lives. Our thoughts, feelings, beliefs and experiences are carried within us, as are our muscles, tendons, blood, nerves and other body parts. Physical and emotional health are therefore intertwined: when one is affected, so is the other, and in the same vein, when one improves, so does the other.

Healing from CFS and Fibromyalgia requires that we pay attention to physical AND emotional, psychological, and spiritual dimensions of our lives. It is just as important to spend time healing the beliefs, feelings and experiences that have caused us emotional pain, as it is to treat the physical symptoms of our bodily pain, and it is often the case that when emotional healing takes place, our physical condition improves.

If we leave out the emotional (and spiritual) aspects of ourselves and focus only on the physical components when we are trying to heal from conditions such as CFS and Fibromyalgia, we are missing the whole person picture and denying ourselves full opportunity for healing.