Research abstract:

The chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) remains a contentious and controversial presentation despite decades of systematic research into the presentation from a variety of specialties within the medical and associated disciplines.

Variously championed as an aetiology of immunological, neurological, neurophysiological, psychiatric and psychological origin, consensus on a cogent and evidenced-based pathway  has yet to be achieved. Irrespective of the ambiguity regarding aetiology, what is incontrovertible regarding this most distressing of clinical presentations is the experience of significant depression which often accompanies this disorder.

The current paper examines the potential underlying mechanisms which may determine and explain this relationship between CFS and depression and in doing so offer some insights which may be of value in the development of evidence based and scientifically-anchored interventions to improve outcomes in relation to depression specifically and improve quality of life generally, in individuals experiencing this diagnosis.

The interface between Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Depression: a psychobiological and neurophysiological conundrum, by Derek Larkin, Colin Martin in Neurophysiologie Clinique/Clinical Neurophysiology [Preprint Date: January 26, 2017]