Chronic fatigue syndrome: labels, meanings and consequences

Wojtek Wojcik; David Armstrong; Richard Kanaan

doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2011.02.002

Chronic fatigue syndrome: labels, meanings and consequences

J Psychosom Res. 2011 Jun;70(6):500-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2011.02.002. Epub 2011 Apr 9.

Authors

Wojtek Wojcik¹, David Armstrong, Richard Kanaan

Affiliation

¹ Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK.

PMID: 21624573
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2011.02.002

Abstract

In this month's issue, we report a survey of members of the Association of British Neurologists, which asked if they viewed chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) as a neurological condition--84% of respondents did not. This is at odds with current classification in ICD-10. We discuss the difficulties of classifying CFS and myalgic encephalopmeylitis (ME), including historical and sociological factors, the pitfalls of the physical/psychological dichotomy and why classification matters to doctors and patients.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / classification*
Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / diagnosis
Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / psychology
Humans
International Classification of Diseases

Grants and funding

Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom