Tired and depressed or just tired : a review of psychiatric morbidity associated with chronic fatigue syndrome

Abstract EN

Severe disabling fatigue with no obvious physical cause has been a subject of much debate within the medical profession and media over the last decade.

Despite much effort to clarify the aetiology of chronic fatigue syndrome the aetiology and pathophysiology remain elusive.

However, there is much evidence to suggest that whatever the cause depressive anxiety and somatoform syndromes occur more frequently than in healthy controls.

We will compare some of the findings of a survey of psychiatric morbidity associated with operationally defined chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) undertaken in Cardiff UK, with other studies undertaken in North America and Europe.

There is a need for research in CFS to be carried out internationally and for more systematic investigations into all aspects of this chronic disabling disorder.