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Personality Features and Personality Disorders in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Populat

V99

Senior Member
Messages
1,471
Location
UK
CDC at it again.
http://content.karger.com/ProdukteDB/produkte.asp?Aktion=ShowFulltext&ArtikelNr=319312&Ausgabe=254424&ProduktNr=223864#AC


Personality Features and Personality Disorders in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Population-Based Study

Urs M. Natera, b, James F. Jonesa, Jin-Mann S. Lina, Elizabeth Maloneya, William C. Reevesa, Christine Heimb

Background: Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) presents unique diagnostic and management challenges. Personality may be a risk factor for CFS and may contribute to the maintenance of the illness. Methods: 501 study participants were identified from the general population of Georgia: 113 people with CFS, 264 with unexplained unwellness but not CFS (insufficient fatigue, ISF) and 124 well controls. We used the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire, 4th edition, to evaluate DSM-IV personality disorders. We used the NEO Five-Factor Inventory to assess personality features (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness). The Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory measured 5 dimensions of fatigue, and the Medical Outcomes Survey Short Form 36 measured 8 dimensions of functional impairment. Results: Twenty-nine percent of the CFS cases had at least 1 personality disorder, compared to 28% of the ISF cases and 7% of the well controls. The prevalence of paranoid, schizoid, avoidant, obsessive-compulsive and depressive personality disorders were significantly higher in CFS and ISF compared to the well controls. The CFS cases had significantly higher scores on neuroticism, and significantly lower scores on extraversion than those with ISF or the well controls. Personality features were correlated with selected composite characteristics of fatigue. Conclusions: Our results suggest that CFS is associated with an increased prevalence of maladaptive personality features and personality disorders. This might be associated with being noncompliant with treatment suggestions, displaying unhealthy behavioral strategies and lacking a stable social environment. Since maladaptive personality is not specific to CFS, it might be associated with illness per se rather than with a specific condition.
 

V99

Senior Member
Messages
1,471
Location
UK
If they can't control their CFS group, then we cannot be controlled, and we will bring the CDC down.
 

julius

Watchoo lookin' at?
Messages
785
Location
Canada
I find it interesting that only 28% showed personality disorders.

Honestly I thought it would have been a lot higher.

If nothing else it shows that CFS is clearly not a result of anxiety/depression as most would have you believe.
 
Messages
13,774
They assessed people who had been suffering from a condition like CFS and were then surprised that these indivuals tended to be less extrovert! Their presumption is then that a lack of extroversion may be a risk factor for CFS, rathet than that living with a chronic health problem which seriously limits your life and which many try to blame you for may make you less of an extrovert.

Are you kidding me? Has anyone got the full paper? Did they even adapt the questioing to account for the different answers those suffering from a chronic illness would tend to give?
I'm so pissed by this sort of nonsense.


AAAARRRgh... more to say on this. Does anyone have a copy of the NEO Five-Factor Inventory quiz? All the versions of these 5 type tests that I've seen have questions whose answers would be directly affected by having a disability, rather than just personality type.

I'm not sure if I can be bothered though. What repulsive quacky bullshit. This is what they spend CFS research money on?
 

Angela Kennedy

Senior Member
Messages
1,026
Location
Essex, UK
They assessed people who had been suffering from a condition like CFS and were then surprised that these indivuals tended to be less extrovert! Their presumption is then that a lack of extroversion may be a risk factor for CFS, rathet than that living with a chronic health problem which seriously limits your life and which many try to blame you for may make you less of an extrovert.

Are you kidding me? Has anyone got the full paper? Did they even adapt the questioing to account for the different answers those suffering from a chronic illness would tend to give?
I'm so pissed by this sort of nonsense.


AAAARRRgh... more to say on this. Does anyone have a copy of the NEO Five-Factor Inventory quiz? All the versions of these 5 type tests that I've seen have questions whose answers would be directly affected by having a disability, rather than just personality type.

I'm not sure if I can be bothered though. What repulsive quacky bullshit. This is what they spend CFS research money on?


Spot on Esther.
 

Tammie

Senior Member
Messages
793
Location
Woodridge, IL
They invented a personality disorder for this, too.....there is no such thing as depressive personality disorder in the DSM!!
 

boomer

Senior Member
Messages
143
Shame on them. This shows the corruption and disrespectfulness of these people. This should be raised at the highest levels of the government and personnel should be replaced asap. To think that the short resources for research should be wasted on this is hurtful. The media should give them s---!
 

shannah

Senior Member
Messages
1,429
I've always believed that I wouldn't wish this illness on my worst enemy. But if anyone is deserving - it's got to be Bill Reeves. It is scary how entrenched he is in his blindness with his dangerous belief system. This man makes my blood boil !!!!
 

Tammie

Senior Member
Messages
793
Location
Woodridge, IL
I don't recalled introversion being a personality disorder, either. Introverts tend to be good at focusing.

Introversion is not a personality disorder. They didn't actually call it a personality disorder, though. They discussed introversion/extroversion as "personality features". They try to imply that it is bad to be less extroverted, which is ridiculous, unless one is introverted to the extreme, where it actually interferes with functioning.

However they did say, "Results: Twenty-nine percent of the CFS cases had at least 1 personality disorder, compared to 28% of the ISF cases and 7% of the well controls. The prevalence of paranoid, schizoid, avoidant, obsessive-compulsive and depressive personality disorders were significantly higher in CFS and ISF compared to the well controls."

Of course, there has been at least one recent study (can't remember who did it, though) that demonstrated that there is absolutely no difference in rates of personality disorders or even personality traits between CFS patients and so-called normal people. (really wishing I had that link now!!)
 
Messages
13,774
I actually think this paper could be useful. It seems to sum up a lot of the nonsense that surrounds CFS research, and could be good to have as an example in discussions/debates.

I'm going to try to give it a good, careful going over if a full copy gets made available and we can find copies of the questionaires they used. (Once the adrenalin of anger's gone I'll probably be too tired though! Darn CFS). Maybe the full paper is a lot better than the abstract makes it sound, but I really don't see how.
 

Tammie

Senior Member
Messages
793
Location
Woodridge, IL
It must be tied to the new DSM

I don't remember seeing anything in the proposed guidlelines re a change of this sort; however, even if it were, those guidleines not only have not been adopted yet; they have not even passed. So, at the time of this study, they completely made up a disorder and tried to claim that they were taking it from the DSM......how on earth could they even have a way to study rates of a disorder that does not exist?! There is no way that the Questionerre and Inventory that they said they used for this study can possibly have any questions pertaining to a non-existent entity.
 
Messages
13,774
(really wishing I had that link now!!)

It would be good if we could somehow maintain a resource thread for useful bits and pieces like that. I'm always struggling to find sources for info I want to use in a discussion.

You need to have a lot of energy to be able to discuss CFS knowledgably, which puts us at something of a disadvantage.
 

Levi

Senior Member
Messages
188
Those naughty CFS/ME patients!

This might be associated with being noncompliant with treatment suggestions, displaying unhealthy behavioral strategies and lacking a stable social environment.

Yeah, right. There certainly are no shadowy demonic evil minions lurking at the CDC. They are our friends, and mean us well. If only CFS patients would just stop whining and writing government officials, and take their suggested CBT and GET. I concede, there is no conspiracy afoot to clandestinely suppress these patients on the QT.

Instead, it rather looks like open war to me. The next step for the CDC is to make CFS a distinct new DSM personality disorder. Sort of a "conversion disorder" with rebel tendencies sprinkled on top.