Psychotherapy for Fibromyalgia and CFS

If you have a chronic illness such as fibromyalgia, you probably know that anxiety and depression will often develop secondary to your condition – thus making things worse for you. If you have fibromyalgia or another chronic condition like chronic fatigue syndrome, please know that psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental health workers are there to support you and prevent you from falling victim to worsening mental health conditions.

Of course, psychological help doesn’t “cure” or alleviate the symptoms associated with your chronic condition. However, it can make things immeasurably better for you, since you already have enough to deal with even without mental factors coming into play. If you suffer from fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome and think you may be developing mental health problems secondary to your condition, consider these questions:

• Do you have problems with anxiety or depression?
• Do you feel alone and have no one to talk to?
• Do you wish your doctor took more time and showed more compassion during visits?
• Could you use help managing your medications?
• Is stress making your illness worse?
• Could your coping skills be better?

If the answer is “yes” to a lot of these, psychotherapy should definitely be considered. If the answer was “no” to all or most of them, it’s probably not something that’s needed.

In Social Security Disability claims, attorneys will often claim disability on the basis of both physical problems (like fibromyalgia) and mental problems that develop secondary to the physical conditions. If indeed you or your attorney are taking such a route when trying to win benefits, it is highly beneficial to have psychotherapy records in your disability case file. When the Judge evaluates your claim for depression secondary to fibromyalgia but doesn’t see any supporting psychotherapy documents, he/she may be more likely to deny your claim.

So seeking out mental health treatment isn’t only a good idea for your own health and well-being, it can also be beneficial toward winning your claim for disability benefits.