I am asking this because a friend of mine is suffering from depression and he always says that he is feeling tired and exhausted and he never wants to do anything. I learned that this is something that is called chronic fatigue syndrome, at least it sounded to me like this is the case with him. I also figured out that since he is suffering from depression (and I know what depression does to you), then his chronic fatigue syndrome must be caused by his depression. Am I right, what do you think? Is depression maybe a major cause of chronic fatigue syndrome?
It's a vicious circle, people who are suffering from depression can easily end up having chronic fatigue syndrome and people with chronic fatigue syndrome can easily become depressed. There is a big difference when it comes to these two things, and that is that depression is a mental disorder and chronic fatigue syndrome is actually a physical disorder. If your friend is suffering from depression as you said he was, then it is likely that he can develop chronic fatigue syndrome as well. Depression is definitely a major cause of chronic fatigue syndrome and this requires a special kind of treatment.
It was always hard for me to understand it, so I decided to read more about this. Look, generally, depression and chronic fatigue syndrome are two conditions that can make someone feel extremely tired for the whole day, it doesn't matter is that person rested or not. Also, it’s possible to have both conditions at the same time - somebody thinks that this is not possible, but that is wrong. It’s also easy to mistake feelings of fatigue for depression and vice-versa. Generally, depression can occur when a person feels sad, anxious, or even very hopeless for a long time, and those people who are depressed often have sleep problems that involve sleeping too much or not sleeping at all. On the other hand, chronic fatigue syndrome is a condition that causes feelings of fatigue that don’t have any other underlying causes. It is magical circle generally.
Well I don't know how close the two of you are but I guess that it would be best if you would just tell him about it. You know, tell him that you want to talk to him and then slowly tell him that you think that he might be suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome and that it would be smart of him to go and talk to his doctor about this. If he cares about you, you can always tell him to do this for you, you know, that usually works. You have to give it a shot and just see what happens.
I also do believe that sometimes this is a circle and that you can't find the way out from it. I was reading a lot about it because my sister mentioned this issue to me for the first time. I do know that chronic fatigue syndrome is characterized by prolonged, debilitating fatigue that does not improve with rest. Also, it may be worsened by physical and mental activity. This fatigue must be present for at least 6 months so you should be prepared to this. Also, it is a fact that this syndrome affects more than 1 million individuals in the U.S.
I believe that CFS and depression are not so close. I think that depression is not the major cause of CFS. People with major depressive disorder report that they are being depressed most of time and often cannot provide a reason or identify a reason to explain their depressed mood. But that doesn't mean that this is the major cause of it. It can be connected when you have both of those issues at the same time, but they are separated and they can't cause each other. So, there is a huge difference between it. They have different causes and symptoms as well.
Look, there is very simple way to describe it. People who are depressed usually are dealing with loss or lack of interest in pleasurable activities. On the other hand, people who are diagnosed with CFS usually say they would engage in favorite activities more if their energy level would allow it.
So, as you can see, from the beginning they are totally different so I don't think that they are responsible for each other. Maybe I am wrong, but since I was reading a lot about it, I think that I have learned something about it.
Have a nice day.
There might be a possibility that Depression is the major chronic fatigue syndrome. If someone has seen the depressed person, you will see some irregular behavior of that person. Because of the depression, he never feels happy and could not enjoy his/her life. That person always thinks of negative things. And these types of negative behavior create some diseases in the human body, that could be Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or any disease. But this can be cured by regular treatment. Consulting a doctor can make someone happy!