C F S  - Information International     
 

CFS and Psychiatry

Dr. Manu, US, supporter of the psychiatric view, discuss the "two paradigms" in Am J Med,  editorial, Manu, 2000.  Dr. Podell, also US, infers that he distrusts the basic argument  [=CBT is helping CFS, thus CFS must be psychiatric],  letter, Podell, 2000.  An Australian paper presents 'afterthoughts' of the psychiatric achievements with CFS,  Couper, 2000,  and a lively debate followed in BMJ,  letter, Smith, 2002.  In one (very small) Japanese study, patients were divided into infectious and non-infectious cases, and the latter was described a psychiatric cases,  Masuda et al., 2002 (short),   Masuda et al., 2002 (pdf).
 

Illness Beliefs and Treatment Outcome

A study on factors predicting outcome of (psychological) treatment in CFS, concluded that motivation and illness beliefs are important, however membership of self-help groups was counterproductive,  Bentall et al., 2002,   Bentall et al., 2002 (pdf).  A study on fatigued workers compared illness beliefs in CFS with non-CFS illness,  Huibers et al., 2003 (short),   Huibers et al., 2003,   Huibers et al., 2003 (pdf).

Also with FM, perceived symptoms and personality traits have been studied, and with equally minor success,  Kendall et al., 2002.  One study concludes that a biopsychosocial model is needed to explain perceived pain in FM,  Malt et al., 2002.

The diagnosis of psychiatric diseases in CFS by physicians was studied,  Torres-Harding et al., 2002.
 

Personality studies on CFS and FM Patients

One study deals with CFS and "The Neural Sensibilisation Theory", meaning that (e.g. childhood-) traumas could be the basis for the disease,   Bell et al., 1998.  Another study analyzed the personality "in perpetuation of CFS",  White & Schweitzer, 2000.  According to a 2003-study juvenile CFS patients have psychiatric problems to a greater extend than arthritis patients,  Rangel et al., 2003.

In Dr. Buchwald's twin studies, twins discordant for CFS exhibited the same stress coping strategies, but the fatigued twin used more avoidance (!),  Afari et al., 2000.  Underlying self-esteem in CFS may not be reflected by overt measures,  Creswell & Chalder, 2002.

A 2000-study describes higher level of 'catastrophizing' in FM patients,  Hassett et al., 2000.  Also the role of victimization has been studied in CFS and FM,  Van Houdenhove et al., 2001,  and in FM compared to RA,  Walker et al., 2002.  Reports of sexual abuse was studied in CF, fatigue in medical conditions and CFS, and found non-predicitve of CFS,  Taylor & Jason, 2001.  This paper,  Buckley et al., 1999, concludes that the neurotic personality of CFS patients could be the reaction to chronic disease.  Personality in CFS could not be explained by psychological factors,  Ciccone et al., 2003   Ciccone et al., 2003.  Another psychiatric study involves mothers personality and the risk of CFS,  Fisher & Chalder, 2003   Fisher & Chalder, 2003 (pdf).

One 2002-paper concludes that psychological evaluation is important in FM,  Turk et al., 2002,  another concludes that in FM various mental disease scores are higher than in control persons,  Trygg et al., 2002.  Negative life events were more common in CFS than expected,  Sundbom et al., 2002.
 

Psychiatric Diagnosis System

Two such traditional "symptom comparing" articles on CFS and dysthymia can be found,  Brunello et al., 1999 and  van der Linden et al., 1999.  Psychiatric correlates in CFS are investigated,  Axe & Satz, 2000.

Dr. Jason, Chicago, US has analyzed the symptoms in CFS and melancholic depression, and found significant differences,  Jason et al., 2002  and  Jason et al., 2002 (pdf).
 

The Real Issues at stake