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Query: UMLS:C0016053 (fibromyalgia)
 4,687 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

There is growing interest in synthesizing qualitative research. Despite certain philosophical and methodological difficulties, such syntheses are potentially useful in enriching the insights of empirical qualitative work in a particular area. This paper reports an interpretive review of research into the subjective experience of fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), utilizing principles of metasynthesis. Twenty-three separate studies were identified. Each study was evaluated using methodological criteria to provide a context for interpretation of substantive findings. Principal findings were extracted and synthesized under four broad categories: experience of symptoms, search for diagnosis, legitimacy, and coping. Our findings re-emphasised the point that pain in FMS is ambiguous and invisible, raising questions of credibility and legitimacy. People with a diagnosis of FMS appear to frame the experience of symptoms within the biomedical model, where FMS is viewed as an organic entity potentially identifiable through biomedical tests. The subjective meaning and perceived legitimacy of the diagnostic label appear to be important factors in the subjective experience of FMS. Coping strategies adopted can be subsumed under Mannerkorpi, K., Kroksmark, T., Ekdahl, C. [1999. How patients with fibromyalgia experience their symptoms in everyday life. Physiotherapy Research International, 4(2), 110-122.] notions of 'struggling', 'adapting', 'in despair' and 'giving up'. Most studies had at least one identified methodological shortcoming, though it is not straightforward to identify the significance of such shortcomings. We conclude that there is scope for further research into the subjective experience of FMS, and into the methodology of metasynthesis, especially in relation to methodological appraisal.
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PMID:Illness experience in fibromyalgia syndrome: a metasynthesis of qualitative studies. 1842 26

"Sudden gains" is a robust phenomenon that has been found to occur among a variety of psychotherapies, clinical conditions, settings, patient populations, and differing levels of therapist expertise. Sudden gains predict superior end-of-treatment outcomes and long-term maintenance of gains. While cognitive changes during the critical session appear to account for the sudden gains, the nature of these changes has not been fully explained, and no detailed reports of how therapists and patients explain these changes have been presented. This case involved a 61-year-old woman with depression, fibromyalgia, and severe osteoarthritis who, after being in psychotherapy treatment for nearly a year, achieved sudden gains after one particular psychotherapy session. The authors discuss the nature of the cognitive changes that both the patient and therapist understood to occur during that critical session and that they believed contributed to the remission of major depressive disorder over a 2-year period. This case study also explores the possible synergistic effects of medications and cognitive interventions on sudden gains. The commentary on the case links this discussion of sudden gains to an intervention created by Viederman and Perry in the 1980s called the psychodynamic life narrative, which they found could sometimes alleviate symptoms rapidly and dramatically by reframing a person's self-image during a depressive crisis, especially one related to a feeling of despair triggered by medical illness. An increased understanding of the nature of interventions that produce cognitive changes leading to immediate, dramatic, and lasting improvement could potentially contribute to the development of more effective treatments for depression and other clinical conditions.
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PMID:"I didn't know cognitive therapy was deep": a case study of sudden and lasting gains in cognitive-supportive therapy of depression. 2522 1