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I personally believe that it's extremely unlikely that CFS has a silver bullet cure like stomach ulcers because CFS is an umbrella diagnosis for several distinc
by revel 7y ago
I personally believe that it's extremely unlikely that CFS has a silver bullet cure like stomach ulcers because CFS is an umbrella diagnosis for several distinct conditions manifesting with similar symptoms. The DSM condition is diagnosed through tests by exclusion rather than a single diagnostic test that shows up positive. More apt comparisons are, therefore, migraines or fibromyalgia than ulcers. Patients with CFS have a diverse range of symptoms and comorbidities. I have two relatives with CFS with radically different symptoms and health backgrounds. One has an autoimmune syndrome and has been through several sleep studies. He literally never experiences REM. For him, tiredness is a constant but sleep is never restful. This isn't a psychiatric condition; it's physical. It's also completely debilitating. For years he tried to power through it (he was a management consultant for years and destroyed his health trying to keep going) but this is not a condition that you can will away.
The other relative had a bad reaction to medication following a virus and never quite recovered. I will readily admit that her condition's roots could be autoimmune too, but she suffers from physical fatigue rather than tiredness. She has to be extremely careful not to overwork or overexercise, but her life is otherwise unimpaired. My relatives rather clearly don't suffer from the same condition but they're diagnosed the same way.
Having said all this I doubt I changed your mind, so let me make a slightly different point: what are the minimum and maximum amounts that you could sleep tonight? If you wanted to, could you sleep for 12 hours straight? How about sleeping for 12 hours for back-to-back days? I know that I can't! I'm literally physically incapable of it. I cannot sleep for more than 10 hours, even if I've accrued a massive sleep deficit (and usually it's more like about 5-7 hours). CFS is not laziness
- interpenetrate 7y agoi'm not saying that CFS is "fake", or that ulcers, fibromyalgia, or migraines are "fake." to say that you can "will" these away is an infantilization of psychoanalysis. i would never classify CFS as "laziness." (although i will note that the DSM has historically had no problem about enforcing moral judgements like this in its taxonomy.) people take "psychosomatic" to be synonymous with "it's all in your head," when the point is that it is precisely not "all in your head." i very much agree with you that part of this discussion is about the questionable validity and reproducibility of the official diagnostic categories. what i disagree with you about is that anything could be exclusively either physical or psychiatric. that's obviously false.
- BlueTemplar 7y agoYeah, for people that might have "forgotten" that - the head is part of the body !
- revel 7y agoTwo quick points of clarification: For a while fibro and empty nose syndrome were considered psychosomatic until physical causes were discovered. I totally agree with you that psychosomatic conditions are not “made up” or “all in your head,” I was trying to convey that the diagnostic criteria revolves around observable traits and behaviors rather than something concrete like a blood test. My larger point, though, is that CFS is likely not a single disorder and instead is an umbrella diagnosis for several distinct conditions that aren’t well understood (yet). I don’t actually think we’re in disagreement I think I just worded my post poorly