(1) M.E./CFS & FIBROMYALGIA are genuine neuro-endocrinal disorders.

(2) They are caused by overstimulation of the HPA-axis, ie the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal gland axis. The hypothalamus is the master gland of your body and regulates your whole metabolism. It is located in the limbic system of the brain, also known as the 'emotional brain'.

(3) Overstimulation of the HPA-axis triggers virtually ALL the symptoms characteristic of M.E./CFS & FIBROMYALGIA by releasing 'stress-hormones' (adrenaline and cortisol) into the bloodstream.

(4) Overstimulation of the HPA-axis is caused by our unconscious perception that a life situation or environmental pressure is 'stressful' or 'threatening' to our well-being, based on neural pathways that we have inherited and which were established in childhood.

(5) All the symptoms of M.E./CFS & FIBROMYALGIA are sent by our bodies to warn us that we need to take effective action to resolve the perceived pressure - now!

(6) Although being ill, our bodies are actually constantly geared up for appropriate action to deal effectively with the 'threatening' situation. Virtually ALL the symptoms of M.E./CFS & FIBROMYALGIA are the outcome of our remaining in a constant state of physiological hyper-alertness - preparing to take the action required to resolve the pressure.

(7) We are fatigued and in pain because we are NOT taking appropriate action; by resting and 'managing' our symptoms, we are doing the OPPOSITE of what is required for us to recover.

(8) By NOT taking the right action, we are suffering from a build-up of suppressed emotional energy, which we have held in because we have been conditioned to do so by our inherited neural networks.

(9) The symptoms CAN ALL BE DISPELLED by taking appropriate action to create new neural pathways that do not trigger your symptoms.

(10) To make a full recovery SBT
(a) teaches you an effective method of body-awareness;
(b) helps you to discover the message of your symptoms which will reveal what action you need to take, and then
(c) supports you to actually take that action. At that moment, your symptoms will begin to disappear.

Symptom-Based Treatment supports and guides you through this process so that you can make a full recovery.

If you follow this method, you will recover, and your symptoms will not return - because you will have successfully re-programmed the neural pathways that have sustained your illness and your hypothalamus will no longer need to trigger your symptoms.

M.E./CFS & FIBROMYALGIA: DISPELLING THE MYTHS

Because the cause and remedy for M.E./CFS & FIBROMYALGIA have now been identified, and used by many sufferers to make a COMPLETE RECOVERY, we can dispel the common MYTHS that still exist around the origins of M.E./CFS & FIBROMYALGIA.
For example, M.E./CFS & FIBROMYALGIA are:

(1) NOT caused by a viral infection.

How do we know this? Two reasons:

(a) Many people who have M.E./CFS and FIBROMYALGIA did NOT contract a virus before they became ill with M.E./CFS and FIBROMYALGIA., so we need to find a different cause for those people. This means that M.E./CFS and FIBROMYALGIA CAN be caused by a non-viral trigger - and if this is the case for so many people with M.E./CFS and FIBROMYALGIA, then this same 'other' trigger may also be the trigger for MOST people with M.E./CFS and FIBROMYALGIA.

(b) For many people with M.E./CFS & FIBROMYALGIA are who did have an early viral infection, their immune systems (and neuro-endocrinal systems) were ALREADY compromised BEFORE they became ill with that infection. This explains why they never 'recovered', whereas most other people who also got that infection fully recovered.

The view of the SBT approach is that if you contracted a viral infection, this infection exploited an already weakened immune system, and actually made you more vulnerable to succumbing to M.E./CFS and FIBROMYALGIA. The viral infection will certainly have contributed to your weakness, but is not the initial cause.

When we were designing our SBT Recovery Programme, we looked at what might be the trigger for the initial weakening of the immune and neuroendocrine systems. The neuroscience evidence now points to our having inherited disrupted neural networks that make us particularly susceptible to illness, and which trigger hyperactivity of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal gland axis (HPA-axis). Hyperactivity of the HPA-axis can account, both directly and indirectly, for virtually all the symptoms of M.E./CFS and Fibromyalgia.

This theory appears correct because when we learn to create new neural pathways (which all of us can do) the symptoms actually start to disappear - eventually disappearing for ever.

We therefore know that M.E./CFS & FIBROMYALGIA are:
(2) NOT caused by food and chemical allergies;
(3) NOT 'all in the mind', although, like for ALL illnesses, we are psycho-biological beings;
(4) NOT caused be electromagnetic radiation, pesticides or overuse of antibiotics;
(5) NOT INCURABLE!