catastrophizing have been recently published. Friedberg (1996)
maintains that treatment such as graded exercise would be appropriate
if activity was avoided due to depressed mood and unrealistic fear of
symptom flare-ups. However, for those CFS individuals who do not have
psychologically mediated reductions in activity, such a directed
approach would be inappropriate and perhaps counterproductive. Below
is another take with the following caution from the author -
"Remember, these are for the days when your other symptoms aren't your
biggest limiting factors! On those days, pacing needs to be more of a
priority, and maybe you're wise to ignore that to-do list for the
day."
Low Motivation With Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
By Adrienne Dellwo, About.com Guide February 24, 2012
I decided it was time to dust this one off because it's all I can
think of to write about today, as I recover from a fun but exhausting
weekend trip. I'm planning to use some of the techniques listed below
to get myself moving - right after a nap and a hot bath! ~Adrienne
One of the most pervasive and persistent symptoms of fibromyalgia and
chronic fatigue syndrome is low motivation. Sometimes it's the result
of low energy, pain, fatigue or brain fog, while other times it's just
there, all on its own.
It's easy to feel lazy when you just don't have the motivation to do
something. This is probably more of a physiological problem, possibly
related toneurotransmitter imbalance, than it is outright laziness --
however, when low motivation is the only symptom preventing us from
doing something, it's good to have ways to get yourself going. After
all, you might be feeling a lot worse tomorrow, especially if you're
beating yourself up for not getting anything done.
I had one of these low-motivation days recently. I was a little tired
but not what I'd call fatigued; I had aches and pains but nothing
severe; my head was pretty clear; I didn't have a lot of physical
energy, but the work I needed to do was mostly mental. I posted about
it on my Facebook page and asked what tricks other people had for
overcoming these motivational lapses. It got some great responses, so
I wanted to summarize them here:
=95 Listening to music (which can be therapeutic on many levels)
=95 Making up artificial deadlines
=95 Starting with the smallest/simplest task, then using the feeling of
accomplishment as a springboard to the next one
=95 Delegate or recruit help & make it fun
=95 Look at tasks one at a time instead of overwhelming yourself with a lon=
g list
=95 Celebrating each accomplishment
=95 Break tasks into steps that can be accomplished in just a few minutes
=95 Ignore the list for awhile and do something self-indulgent, to
improve your mood and boost your motivation for the next day
=95 A hot bath or shower
Continue the conversation here:
http://chronicfatigue.about.com/b/2012/02/24/low-motivation-with-fibromyalg=
ia-chronic-fatigue-syndrome.htm
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