Chronic fatigue patients more likely to suppress emotions

[worldbackwards]

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-05-chronic-fatigue-patients-suppress-emotions.html

Chronic fatigue syndrome patients report they are more anxious and distressed than people who don't have the condition, and they are also more likely to suppress those emotions.

Astonishing.

In addition, when under stress, they show greater activation of the biological "fight or flight" mechanism, which may add to their fatigue, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.

"We hope that this research will contribute to a greater understanding of the needs of people with chronic fatigue syndrome, some of whom may tend not to communicate their experiences of symptoms or stress to other people," said the study's lead author, Katharine Rimes, PhD, of King's College London. "Others may be unaware of the difficulties experienced by chronic fatigue syndrome patients and therefore not provide appropriate support."

Can't think why ME patients would have to suppress their emotions around Trudie Chalder...

 

[Tom Kindlon]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/732648824225865728

 

[A.B.]

Observer rated emotional expression. The researcher conducting the experiment was not blinded. The study might be telling the truth, or it might be telling us about the observer's beliefs.

 

[*GG*]

Can you change the title, I could care less about CF patients, I have CFS/ME!

GG

 

[worldbackwards]

That's what the article's called. Take it or leave it.

 

[BurnA]

Can you change the title, I could care less about CF patients, I have CFS/ME!

GG

The title seems to omit " syndrome " but the first line includes it. What the fu#k are these people playing at.

 

[me/cfs 27931]

Skin conductance was measured because this increases with greater sweating, which is a sign of activation of the body's sympathetic nervous system. This is often known as the biological fight or flight system used to cope with stress.

I have trouble regulating my body temperature, and often sweat for no apparent reason. But apparently sweating must mean I'm coping with stress.

 

[halcyon]

Can you change the title, I could care less about CF patients, I have CFS/ME!

CFS is the term used in the study and Fukuda criteria was used to select patients.

 

[worldbackwards]

The findings don't surprise me at all - I can no more sustain anger or upset for long periods without exhaustion than I can run around the block. Unsurprisingly, I try to suppress and avoid such things.

I do rather wish that it was someone else interpreting the results here though.

 

[TiredSam]

Chronic fatigue patients more likely to suppress emotions

Certainly not true of me when I read shit like this.

 

[user9876]

The authors note that this study was conducted with mainly white patients who were attending a special clinic for chronic fatigue syndrome patients and that more research is needed to determine whether elevated emotional suppression would also be found in chronic fatigue patients in more diverse populations.

They seem to think skin colour could be a factor in how patients deal with stress.

 

[user9876]

A link to the full paper
http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/hea-hea0000341.pdf

 

[user9876]

A 9-min clip from a British Broadcasting Corporation documentary called “Britain’s Homecare Scandal,”
originally shown in 2003 as part of the “Panorama” series, was used to elicit an emotional response. I

The film they showed wasn't exactly neutral I can imagine a lot of people with chronic conditions wouldn't be particularly shocked by the state of care services in the UK and especially people with ME. If they failed to choose a neutral video clip and didn't control for chronic disease (i.e. have other groups with different chronic illnesses) then their results are meaningless.

 

[PennyIA]

I'll be honest, post ME/CFS I think I tend to run a little more intolerant of b.s. I might 'suppress' that because I was raised to be polite and not argue with authority... but then again, lately I don't tend to see medical figures as authority any more.

 

[Large Donner]

Doesn't this mean that people with ME are less anxious and distressed than people who don't have ME?

Or do they just pick a conclusion that suits them when people with ME don't report feeling anxious or distressed?

"Therefore they are suppressing their emotions".

Or do they just conclude "suppression of emotions" exists by interviewing people with ME and asking them how they deal with the emotional side of having ME and when they say they have learned to cope with it that is reported as not overt enough and therefore suppression of emotions?

Or perhaps they start by concluding that ME must be a condition caused by distress and anxiety and then when they ask PWME if they ever feel distressed about their situation they then conclude its false illness beliefs and false illness anxiety if they dare comment on their symptoms and their concerns surrounding the illness.

So let me get this straight..... PWME are showing no signs of more distress or anxiety than other groups therefore they must by default be in more distress and states of anxiety despite not reporting them and therefore they are suppressing the no signs of them?

So then they move onto a sweat test and ask accusatory questions like a witch trial and if the person sweats then they both have the symptoms of anxiety and distress and this proves that they are suppressing them?

I suppose uttering such truisms as "doctors are useless at diagnosing and understanding this disease therefore I don't bother with them anymore and CBT is proven hoax", scores one full marks on the "suppressor of emotions" list. Except when one actually articulates such to a "professional" which then somehow becomes not suppression of emotions but just pure faulty illness belief.

One can just about draw any conclusion one wants from an unblinded survey based questionnaire where the investigator has a vested interest in a given conclusion.

I could go on.....but whats the point?

The study sounds like a big bag of the usual bullshit by the usual suspects.

 

[Wildcat]

.
Our disease is a research funding gravy train. But no money for biomedical ME research.
.

 

[Denise]

Expending energy - whether it be physical, cognitive or emotional energy can be quite draining.
Perhaps it is not "suppression of emotion" so much as pacing done by patients to minimize emotional highs or lows and thereby minimize energy expenditure....

 

[PennyIA]

Or perhaps they watched a video expressing how folks aren't getting the care they need... and they didn't react because they've already experienced the issue first-hand and have already dealt with all their 'emotional responses'?

 

[PennyIA]

You know, the more of these little piddling 'emotional' and psychological studies I see... the more angry I get that the LITTLE bit of money we have for ME/CFS research is being thrown away on crap.

 

[Large Donner]

Dont people get nervous under test conditions why would it be so unusual to sweat more in such a situation.

What does the sweating prove when the study is not controlled and unblinded?

Ill tell you......Sweet F**k all !!!!

Or maybe Sweat F**k all?

Why are we bothering with all of these FOI issues back and forth why don't we just give Peter White a sweat test whilst asking him if the PACE trial is a fraud and if he sweats its all settled and the papers should be retracted.

Then we will see what they think of a sweat test!