Outpatients of two neurology services who had functional symptoms rated by a neurologist as "not at all" or only "somewhat" explained by organic disease were randomly allocated to two groups. One group received “usual care,” the other also received guided self-help in the form of a self-help manual and four 30-minute guidance sessions. The primary outcome was self-rated health on a 5-point Clinical Global Improvement scale (CGI) at three months. The researchers found that CBT-based, guided self-help therapy improved self-reported general health, as measured by the CGI, in patients with functional neurologic symptoms.
For information about other types of disorders for which CBT has proven to be an effective treatment, see Psychiatric News at http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/46/10/19.1.full.
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