Home > Knowledge Base > Conditions and Diseases > Chronic Illness > Neurological Disorders > Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Is CFS related to depression?
[Answer This Question] [Ask New Question] 
Doctors often discount CFS patients as suffering from depression by #56153 19 year 1 of 1 (100%)
Doctors are often quick to discount Chronic-Fatigue-Syndrome patients as suffering from hysteria, depression, somatoform disorders, etc.
Many of Chronic-Fatigue-Syndrome symptoms are correlated to depression, and many un-read physicians today still believe that's what Chronic-Fatigue-Syndrome is. Much recent research, notably the finding by Demitrack that cortisol levels are low in CFS patients whereas in depressed people they are high, indicates that CFS is not depression.
Other noted differences are that CFS patients tend to overestimate their abilities, retain a strong interest in life, and respond poorly to exercise, whereas the opposite are typically observed in people who are depressed.
A politico-economic aspect of this issue is that health insurers have an incentive to classify patients as having temporary illnesses that can be treated cheaply and in a short time. Depression is considered to be a short-term, treatable illness.
Another issue is that CFS patients can get "secondary depression" if their lives have been disrupted because their illness has interfered with their job or their social or family life. This indirect consequence of the illness may be taken by some medical professionals as indicating a cause rather than an effect of the observed symptoms.
Viewed 15659 times
All #56153's Answers
Doctors are often quick to discount Chronic-Fatigue-Syndrome patients as suffering from hysteria, depression, somatoform disorders, etc.
Many of Chronic-Fatigue-Syndrome symptoms are correlated to depression, and many un-read physicians today still believe that's what Chronic-Fatigue-Syndrome is. Much recent research, notably the finding by Demitrack that cortisol levels are low in CFS patients whereas in depressed people they are high, indicates that CFS is not depression.
Other noted differences are that CFS patients tend to overestimate their abilities, retain a strong interest in life, and respond poorly to exercise, whereas the opposite are typically observed in people who are depressed.
A politico-economic aspect of this issue is that health insurers have an incentive to classify patients as having temporary illnesses that can be treated cheaply and in a short time. Depression is considered to be a short-term, treatable illness.
Another issue is that CFS patients can get "secondary depression" if their lives have been disrupted because their illness has interfered with their job or their social or family life. This indirect consequence of the illness may be taken by some medical professionals as indicating a cause rather than an effect of the observed symptoms.
Viewed 15659 times
All #56153's Answers