Tag: patient experience

Illness experience, depression, and anxiety in chronic fatigue syndrome

Abstract:

OBJECTIVE: Given the high rate of psychiatric comorbidity with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), we considered two possible correlates of anxiety and depression: lack of illness legitimization and beliefs about limiting physical activity.

METHOD: A total of 105 people diagnosed with CFS reported on their experiences with medical professionals and their beliefs about recovery and completed the depression and anxiety subscales of the Brief Symptom Inventory.

RESULTS: Those who said that their physician did not legitimize their illness (36%) had higher depression and anxiety scores (P’s<.05) than their counterparts. Those who believed that limiting their physical exertion was the path to recovery (55%) had lower depression and anxiety scores (P’s<.01) than their counterparts.

CONCLUSION: Lack of illness legitimization ranked high as a source of dissatisfaction for CFS patients, and it may aggravate psychiatric morbidity. Many CFS patients believed that staying within what they felt to be their physical limits would improve their condition. This belief, and possibly an accompanying sense of control over their symptoms, may alleviate psychiatric morbidity.

 

Source: Lehman AM, Lehman DR, Hemphill KJ, Mandel DR, Cooper LM. Illness experience, depression, and anxiety in chronic fatigue syndrome. J Psychosom Res. 2002 Jun;52(6):461-5. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12069870

 

Fatigue in chronic fatigue syndrome: a discourse analysis of women’s experiential narratives

Abstract:

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a debilitating condition. Approximately 75% of sufferers are women. The etiology of CFS is debated, but remains inconclusive. “Fatigue” is ill defined and conceptually problematic. The international multidisciplinary literature on CFS reveals a paucity of studies on women. Qualitative research to analyze women’s discourses on CFS is virtually absent.

Eleven New Zealand women of European descent with experience of CFS were interviewed in depth. Within the complex facets of CFS, this article reports specifically on an analysis of discourses on “fatigue.”

The predominant theme that emerged was that fatigue is articulated as “lack” or absence, which is not representable as an identifiable entity in biomedical terms. Parallels with chronic pain are briefly drawn. We conclude that approaches to CFS must respond to the diverse and complex constructions of the experience of fatigue evident in women’s narratives.

 

Source: Hart B, Grace VM. Fatigue in chronic fatigue syndrome: a discourse analysis of women’s experiential narratives. Health Care Women Int. 2000 Apr-May;21(3):187-201. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11111465