Ashok Gupta explains how chronic fatigue syndrome stems from a sensitized amygdala stuck in stress mode, creating a loop where worry about symptoms reinforces the problem. He maps symptoms across physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual domains, then argues these patterns are reversible through amygdala retraining.
Now, if you want further information on how the symptoms are caused, please have a look at the notes in this session. It is entitled how the CFS Symptoms are Created. I have written in detail about how each symptom is caused by by the sympathetic nervous system reaction. In these notes I look at first of all the physical symptoms. So muscular fatigue at aching joints, fatigue from sleep problems, adverse reaction to exercise, digestive problems, immune system symptoms, visual disturbances and autonomic dysfunction. Secondly, I look at mental symptoms, so headaches and foggy head, the inability to concentrate and problems with memory. Thirdly, the emotional symptoms. So emotional problems, anxiety and depression, susceptibility to stress, panicky feelings and the inability to feel enjoyment. And fourthly, we shall mention spiritual fatigue. Now, this is sometimes the most difficult fatigue to deal with. It's those feelings of how will I cope with life given that I have this awful illness? Will I ever get better? I give up. Some CFS patients find that every thought and action is an effort and life has become a struggle. They feel as though they have been precipitated into old age. Without even the strength to face tomorrow. They become depressed about the whole situation. And those depressed feelings are also linked to long term stress. Patients sometimes describe these feelings as the worst part of the illness. Having such a debilitating illness for so long is bound to cause despair and hopelessness us. But this can be healed with explanation. I wish to give you hope and courage if you feel this way. I have been through these same thoughts and feelings not being able to face life itself. Happily, these feelings are transitory and are to be expected. Firstly, the bewilderment with how you are feeling and no conclusive medical explanation means that you may feel as though the there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Secondly, the stress hormones and neurotransmitters cause feelings of emotional insecurity and despair which in themselves can prolong the illness. So, as bad as all of this may feel, it is simply the mind and body stuck in a reaction which can make things seem far worse than they actually are. You're essentially at the mercy of an unconscious reaction which you do not directly control at the moment. But we are now armed with the good news that these symptoms are reversible and that they are simply due to the way the subconscious amygdala has been trained. We can therefore retrain it to stop putting the body in this imbalanced state. And that's what we will do in the next few sessions. So this completes the explanation of cfs. If you are unsure of the process. Please re watch this session. Let me now summarize the key points of today's session. At the beginning of CFS you may have been under a lot of mental, emotional and physical stress. This means the amygdala is on high alert to dangers and is stimulating the stress response a lot. It becomes sensitized and starts causing mild symptoms of stress in the body. The body is under so much stress that the immune system's effectiveness is reduced. You then get a virus which lasts a long time with a prolonged period of post viral fatigue or pvf. You have symptoms from the stress response and the PVF simultaneously. You consciously and subconsciously start worrying about why you feel so ill, which trains the amygdala. The amygdala becomes traumatized and sensitive to new threats. Once traumatized, the amygdala keeps responding to the symptoms and gets the conscious mind carried away with it all. The conscious mind may sometimes get bombarded with negative thoughts about the body from the amygdala and the figure eight vicious cycle continues. The amygdala becomes sensitized to any kind of activity which might increase the symptoms. So thank you for watching session two and I will see you in session three. It.
