Is CFS related to depression?
Many emerging illnesses, before they have gained acceptance by the medical community, have initially been discounted as being hysteria, depression, somatoform disorders, etc. One hundred years ago, polio was dismissed in just that fashion. When CFS gained notice in recent times, many of its symptoms were correlated to depression, and many un-read physicians today still believe that’s what CFS is. Much recent research, notably the finding by Demitrack that cortisol levels are low in CFS patients whereas in depressed people they are high, indicates that CFS is not depression. Other noted differences are that CFS patients tend to overestimate their abilities, retain a strong interest in life, and respond poorly to exercise, whereas the opposite are typically observed in people who are depressed. A politico-economic aspect of this issue is that health insurers have an incentive to classify patients as having temporary illnesses that can be treated cheaply and in a short time. Depression is
