Prof Leonard Jason writes on Facebook, 14 October 2016:

Our recent paper “Mortality in patients with ME and CFS” found patients are significantly at risk for earlier all-cause mortality with the top three causes of death being suicide, cardiovascular problems, and cancer. This is an alarming issue and we would like your help understanding what factors may be contributing to this earlier mortality.

In addition to developing cancer and cardiovascular problems, some individuals with ME and CFS exhibit symptoms similar to demoralization and depression due to the major symptoms of their primary physical illness and the associated limitations and stigma experienced.

We would like your help for our research study in understanding what external factors may be influencing the development and expression of demoralization and depression-like symptoms.

We would like to invite all individuals 18 or older with ME and CFS to complete our questionnaire (link below) assessing several factors including access to and quality of healthcare, illness severity, financial impact, and social interactions with both supportive and non-supportive people.

We hope the results of this study will help us better understand what you experience with your illness and the types of barriers to receiving quality care and support. This questionnaire will take approximately 90 minutes to complete. There is an opportunity to save pages and return later.

Online survey: An Assessment of Demoralization and Depression-like Symptoms Experienced by Individuals with ME and CFS