Personality and social attitudes in chronic fatigue syndrome

Wood, Barbara; Wessely, Simon

doi:10.1016/s0022-3999(99)00025-2

Cited by 62 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…In FM, patients may have great difficulty identifying and expressing anger. This is consistent with research findings of significant alexithymia in FM , but not in CFS (Friedberg & Quick, 2007;Wood & Wessely, 1999). Patients with FM may simply deny feelings of anger toward others, although they describe situations such as loss of support, others' disbelief, criticism, and rejection, which would be expected to elicit at least some level of anger.…”

Section: Presence/absence Of Affective Distresssupporting

confidence: 88%

Chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and related illnesses: a clinical model of assessment and intervention

Friedberg

2010

J Clin Psychol

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A clinically informative behavioral literature on chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and fibromyalgia (FM) has emerged over the past decade. The purpose of this article is to (a) define these conditions and their less severe counterparts, i.e., unexplained chronic fatigue (UCF) and chronic widespread pain; (b) briefly review the behavioral theory and intervention literature on CFS and FM; and (c) describe a user-friendly clinical model of assessment and intervention for these illnesses. The assessments described will facilitate understanding of the somewhat unusual and puzzling somatic presentations that characterize these patients. Using an individualized cognitive-behavioral approach the mental health clinician can offer significant help to these often stigmatized and medically underserved patients.

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Section: Presence/absence Of Affective Distresssupporting

confidence: 88%

Chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and related illnesses: a clinical model of assessment and intervention

Friedberg

2010

J Clin Psychol

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“…The picture emerges of individuals with a high workload, who might be perfectionists and have a high sense of responsibility with respect to their work. A similar personality profile has been described for chronic fatigue syndrome patients [34, 35, 36]. Rest and relaxation might be associated with feelings of guilt, which may prevent them from really enjoying their days off.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

Leisure Sickness: A Pilot Study on Its Prevalence, Phenomenology, and Background

Vingerhoets

Huijgevoort²,

Heck³

2002

Psychother Psychosom

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Aim: To explore the prevalence, phenomenology, and background of leisure sickness, i.e., the condition of people developing symptoms of sickness during weekends and/or vacations. Method: In order to obtain an estimate of its prevalence, a representative Dutch sample consisting of 1,128 men and 765 women was asked to indicate to what extent they recognized themselves in our description of weekend and vacation sickness. For the investigation of the phenomenology and background of this condition and the characteristics of the patients suffering from it, questionnaire data were collected in new samples consisting of 114 cases and 56 controls. Questions referred to symptoms, onset, duration, appreciation of weekend and vacation activities, and appraisal of work and workload. Results: In the case of male respondents, 3.6 and 3.2% recognized themselves in the description of the weekend and the vacation syndrome, respectively, compared with 2.7 and 3.2% women. Most frequently reported symptoms were headache/migraine, fatigue, muscular pains, and nausea. In addition, viral infections (flue-like, common cold) were often reported in relation to vacations. Cases had generally suffered from leisure sickness for over 10 years and the onset was associated with stressful conditions. They attributed their condition to difficulties with the transition from work to nonwork, stress associated with travel and vacation, as well as workload and personality characteristics. There were no significant group differences in the appreciation of weekend and leisure activities or lifestyle during days off. Most striking differences were found with respect to experienced workload, sense of responsibility, and inability to relax. Conclusion: Leisure sickness is a relatively common condition. Specific lifestyle factors or leisure activities seem to be less relevant for its development. Concerning risk factors, the data tend to point to high workload and person characteristics, namely, the inability to adapt to the nonworking situation, a high need for achievement, and a high sense of responsibility with respect to work. Future studies should be designed for testing specific hypotheses concerning the underlying mechanisms and evaluating the effectiveness of psychological and/or physical activity interventions.

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“…Evidence from proximal conditions is inconclusive. Chronic fatigue syndrome, which shares its main characteristic exhaustion with burnout, was not associated with elevated levels of alexithymia in two empirical studies [16, 17]. Depressive, anxiety and psychosomatic symptoms, commonly associated with work-related stress disorders, demonstrate strong associations with alexithymia [6, 18, 19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alexithymia, Risk Factor or Consequence of Work-Related Stress?

Vente

Kamphuis

Emmelkamp³

2006

Psychother Psychosom

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Background: Primary alexithymia has been proposed as a trait-like risk factor for various psychiatric disorders. Alternatively, secondary alexithymia has been conceptualized as an inadequate coping reaction to a stressful situation. This study investigated the level and the type of alexithymia associated with occupational stress. Method: On 2 occasions, 69 patients with work-related stress and 62 healthy participants completed self-report instruments to measure alexithymia (20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale), burnout complaints (Maslach Burnout Inventory) and general distress complaints (Depression Anxiety Stress Scales, Checklist Individual Strength). Group differences in alexithymia were analyzed using ANOVAs. The type of alexithymia was investigated by (a) determining absolute and relative stability, (b) exploring state dependence by adjusting alexithymia for burnout and distress complaints and (c) associating recovery of complaints with change in alexithymia. Results: Alexithymia was significantly elevated among patients. In the patient group, absolute stability of two alexithymia dimensions (identifying feelings, describing feelings) and relative stability of one alexithymia dimension (identifying feelings) was lower than in the healthy group. Cross-sectional group differences became small and nonsignificant after adjustment for distress complaints. Among patients, change in alexithymia was moderately associated with symptom recovery. Conclusion: Elevated alexithymia among patients with occupational stress is highly state dependent, which indicates the presence of secondary alexithymia.

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Personality and social attitudes in chronic fatigue syndrome

Cited by 62 publications

References 38 publications

Chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and related illnesses: a clinical model of assessment and intervention

Chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and related illnesses: a clinical model of assessment and intervention

Leisure Sickness: A Pilot Study on Its Prevalence, Phenomenology, and Background

Alexithymia, Risk Factor or Consequence of Work-Related Stress?

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