Description
This article is from the Chronic Fatigue
Syndrome (CFS) FAQ, by cfs-news@cais.com (Roger Burns) with
numerous contributions by others.
2.04 What is the role of stress and psychology in CFS?
Preliminary research suggests that CFS may involve a brain disorder --
specifically, HPA dysfunction (see question 2.16) -- which affects the
stress response system in our bodies. CFS patients are standardly
observed to be hypersensitive to stress. Stress does not merely mean
unpleasant experiences, but rather any biological stressors, physical
or emotional, which prompt a protective reaction in the body and which
may alter the physiologic equilibrium known as "homeostasis". Stress
in this physiological sense may be subtle and may not necessarily be
noticed. Merely hearing loud sounds or seeing bright lights may be
stressful in this context.
High-stress events sometimes seem to "trigger" the first appearance of
the illness (see question 2.06), and they will usually worsen the
symptoms if the illness has already developed. Because stress is often
mistakenly thought of as a purely emotional phenomenon with no
physical aspect, the correlation of CFS with stress makes some people
imagine that CFS must a non-physical "psychological illness". Medical
studies show that stress plays an important role in several
immune-mediated illnesses, and in fact a new field of research called
psychoneuroimmunology has been created to study just this phenomenon.
HPA and neurotransmitter dysfunction may make CFS patients excessively
irritable, and may prompt panic attacks. These behaviors might be
misinterpreted, thereby reinforcing a misconception that CFS is merely
a psychological condition.
See also question 2.11 which discusses depression, and the questions
under Part 3 of this document, "Life problems created by CFS".
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