Psychiatry Investig.
2008 Dec;5(4):209-212.
Treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Findings, Principles and Strategies
- Affiliations
-
- 1Department of Psychology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. patrick.luyten@psy.kuleuven.be
- 2University Hospital Gasthuisberg, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
- 3Department of Psychiatry, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
- 4Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical University, Durham, NC, USA.
Abstract
- Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a debilitating condition characterized by serious medically unexplained mental and physical fatigue. The high prevalence and both direct and indirect health costs of CFS patients represent a huge problem for contemporary health care. Moreover, the prognosis of CFS, even when treated, is often poor. In this paper, we first critically review current evidence based treatments of CFS. Second, we discuss the growing insights into the etiopathogenesis of CFS, and the need to translate and integrate these insights into future treatments. In particular, we formulate a pragmatic and empirically testable treatment approach, tailored to the individual needs of patients, which aims at restoring the mental and physical equilibrium of CFS patients by trying to bring about sustained life style changes.
