Abstract:
I urge all practitioners to accept that ‘chronic fatigue’ patients have genuine symptoms. This disease can cause depression, but for most patients it is not caused by depression. I acknowledge that a depressed patient can develop the chronic fatigue syndrome in the same way that they can contract any other disease. If you are unable to diagnose a patient with these symptoms please refer them to a centre specialising in this devastating and poorly understood disease.
Source: Lopis R. A personal encounter with a mystery illness. Aust Fam Physician. 1991 Mar;20(3):316-7. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2039419