Chronic Fatigue No Longer Seen as ‘Yuppie Flu’, Physical Symptoms Of Depression

Q.For decades, people suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome have struggled to convince doctors, employers, friends and even family members that they were not imagining their debilitating symptoms. Skeptics called the illness “yuppie flu” and “shirker syndrome.”

A.But the syndrome is now finally gaining some official respect. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which in 1999 acknowledged that it had diverted millions of dollars allocated by Congress for chronic fatigue syndrome research to other programs, has released studies that linked the condition to genetic mutations and abnormalities in gene expression involved in key physiological processes. The centers have also sponsored a $6 million public awareness campaign about the illness. And last month, the C.D.C. released survey data suggesting that the prevalence of the syndrome is far higher than previously thought, although these findings have stirred controversy among patients and scientists. Some scientists and many patients remain highly critical of the C.D.C.’s record on chronic fatigue syndrome, or C.F.S. But nearly everyone now agrees that the syndrome is real. I believe it's real... I believe it's a symptom of depression and not a disease onto itself... but it's definitely real. CFS was the first diagnosis I had while trying to figure out what was wrong with me. I think it's the physical symptoms of a mental illness... but that may just be me. Just for giggles... the treatment that was suggested to me by two different doctors: give it six months and the symptoms will most likely go away. CFIDS (chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome) has been for some time regarded as a genuine physical illness unto itself, and not a symptom of any mental illness. If anything, mental illness can be a symptom of the disorder, particularly if it presents itself concomitant with the other symptoms necessary to make a diagnosis of CFIDS. It was once thought to be caused by the Epstein-Barr virus, but updated research has concluded that CFIDS has no connection with Epstein-Barr syndrome. ISTM that, given its variability as to the degrees of its symptoms and the amount of time it takes for one to recover from it, or if recovery ever occurs, that it might be caused by a number of different vira, each different in seriousness of symptoms and longevity of the illness. Some patients overcome the condition in two to four years; others never do. (Conventional medical wisdom claims that if a patient doesn't recover within five years, he/she never will.) Some with CFIDS are severely afflicted yet still able to be somewhat productive; others are completely incapacitated by it. Numerous celebrities have fallen victim to CFIDS, including soccer player Michelle Akers; rock musician Dennis DeYoung; author Laura Hillenbrand; pianist Keith Jarrett; composer and performer Randy Newman; conductor Jackson Parkhurst; and speedskater Amy Peterson.

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