Re:Biomarker for chronic fatigue syndrome identified
by mises on Sunday May 05, 2019 @05:11PM
(#19835093)
Careful not to swing too far the other way. In situations where physical treatments are an option (even if they would only help, not cure), it is important not to give such treatments if it is a mental illness as treatments have risks. If it is mental, mental illness treatment might actually help.
Re:Biomarker for chronic fatigue syndrome identified
by perseusmandate on Sunday May 05, 2019 @09:31PM
(#19836198)
If you look at the CFS forums they are trying all kinds of crazy experimental therapies, many of which have side-effects and few of which have any effects
Another interesting correlary is the pelvic floor dysfunction world. It is mostly a stress based illness which is best addressed by mental health treatment and relaxation but some people have gotten tons of invasive surgeries with reason to think they would even be helpful
The strict delineation between physiological and psychological illnesses is mostly a Western construct and the unfortunate effect is that the CFS community has an obsession with proving that it is a 100% physical illness without any mental component. It shouldn't be necessary for them to assert that for them to be taken seriously. The same can be said of chronic Lyme, Fibromyalgia, IBS, many kinds of chronic pain
One fascinating thing is that there are people with non-physiological dissociative seizures (classified as a DSM mental illness). This population is actually much less likely to admit that their mental wellbeing has an effect on the incidence of these seizures than patients with conventional ones