No Time For Depression

Depression Cycle (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Many people seem to have a belief that the reason most CFS/ME sufferers got ill is because of their depression. This is mostly wrong. While it is true that patients with chronic (we talked about years, not months) illness would hardly not to get depressed, but which is cause, depression, or chronic physical problems?

Speaking for my own experience, I do not even have time for depression! I have been so busy to dealing with symptoms. Ironically, it was those moment when I got better I did feel some loneliness or depression, but they usually quickly went away either due to either my symptoms attacks or, my natural happy spirit.

However, sometime, during physically not so bad and not so good time, I would feel depressed, for the long last fatigue condition. But, this mood also can be changed as soon as my physical condition changes, either for better or for worse - if my physical condition changes to good, I would involve in some activities which lighten me up; or, if physical condition gets worse, I would be again busy on "problems solving".

I do not think I am the only one in the CFS/ME world. I believe that most CFS/ME patients would be in a similar way: inevitably feel depressed/frustrated DUE TO seemingly forever sick situation. I read this passage from a book and I think it's worth to quote it again:

"We should not confuse the fact that the vast majority of fatigue patients are depressed BECAUSE OF CHRONIC ILLNESS, not chronic ill because of they are depressed. this is a very important distinction and one that most doctors fail to draw... to treat depression as causing the whole illness is wrong" (I would add "is not only wrong but dangerous".
---Edward Conley, author of "America Exhausted"