| Stress and anxiety are an unfortunate, but | | | | and healthcare providers into action. |
| sometimes necessary and inevitable feature of | | | | Sufferers no longer have to fight against the |
| modern life. | | | | labeling that was common with previous |
| As with diet, obesity, alcohol and smoking I am | | | | generations which took the basic premise that |
| afraid that the news is simple. They have to be | | | | "stress, depression and anxiety are all in the mind |
| addressed. | | | | and are a sign of weakness" |
| Learning to deal with stress is something that can | | | | How stress can maintain and exacerbate CFS and |
| be consciously learned and practiced and new | | | | Fibromyalgia |
| techniques have proven very effective. | | | | Stress, depression and anxiety are known to slow |
| A higher than average percentage of patients | | | | down and in severe cases prevent recovery |
| undergoing Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue | | | | from infectious illnesses, and this is partly where |
| treatment are, or were, engaged in high stress | | | | the confusion and malpractice surrounding the CFS |
| environments. | | | | depression arena was instigated and fed by |
| This may be or have been at home, as carers of | | | | general practice and psychologists over the last |
| relatives or young children. It may have been in | | | | few decades. |
| work detail or during a divorce or home move. | | | | The dividing line between the two conditions can |
| Whatever the cause a significant increase in | | | | appear very close to the untrained eye, but on |
| stress is frequently cited at the time of onset of | | | | closer inspection CFS and Fibromyalgia do in fact |
| the sufferers Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue | | | | have a totally unique subset of features when |
| Syndrome symptoms. | | | | compared to depression of any type. |
| As well as being implicated pre-onset, stress | | | | To further muddy the waters both CFS and |
| reactions are involved in the maintenance and | | | | depression cause physical symptoms which can |
| exacerbation of the Syndrome post-onset. | | | | be similar to each other on initial presentation and |
| Blood pressure, heart rate, the entire endocrine | | | | also there is crossover with the symptoms of |
| system which controls hormone production are all | | | | various infectious illnesses of the rheumatic and |
| implicated and involved during stress reactions. | | | | auto-immune spectrum. |
| Unfortunately, the system that directly controls all | | | | As I have mentioned several times in my text, |
| these systems, the Autonomic Nervous System, | | | | establishment apathy and nonchalance about the |
| in particular the Sympathetic Nervous System or | | | | true nature of CFS and Fibromyalgia have lead to |
| "day nerve" remains malfunctional post-onset. | | | | it being sidelined as a subdivision of psychology |
| The result, unfortunately, will be an exacerbated | | | | and particularly depression. |
| negative reaction of your Fatigue and Fibromyalgia | | | | Historically, when help is sought, sufferers are left |
| symptoms to stress and anxiety producing | | | | feeling isolated and misunderstood to the extent |
| situations. | | | | that they will begin to hide their symptoms, live in |
| To make matters worse there is evidence that | | | | denial worried about other peoples reactions, and |
| once activated the stress reaction lasts | | | | press on regardless while understating their illness. |
| abnormally longer in patients afflicted with | | | | Unfortunately, these typical reactions only serve |
| Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. | | | | to heighten overall stress levels which is precisely |
| Is CFS more common in stressed people? | | | | the opposite of the reaction needed for |
| Let me first give a very broad outline of how | | | | recuperation and so leads to a further |
| general medical advice is presented to Healthcare | | | | exacerbation and worsening of symptoms. |
| providers in diagnosing Fibromyalgia and CFS | | | | A lot of sufferers understandably avoid further |
| patients: | | | | professional help. |
| "frequently seen characteristics of CFS and | | | | Some work very hard to find a cure and |
| Fibromyalgia patients | | | | convince people that CFS/ME/Fibromyalgia is a |
| * People who through their own personal attitudes | | | | real illness. This leads to sufferers experiencing a |
| and anxieties tend to make their own lives mores | | | | desperate urgency to recover which is met and |
| stressful. | | | | fed by a cynical and irresponsible health industry |
| * People who are highly ambitious, they appear to | | | | full of fake cures, miracle pills and treatments. |
| be always active physically and mentally. | | | | All this while sufferers are feeling threatened, |
| * People whose lives are fully absorbed coping | | | | scared, angry, stigmatized and generally ill. |
| with the needs and requirements of others. | | | | The stress cycle goes even higher, and the result, |
| * People who avoid taking the time they need for | | | | sufferers sink even lower. |
| themselves to rest, relax and recuperate and build | | | | There are times in a person life when it may |
| supportive relationships that are entirely their own. | | | | become particularly difficult to actually be ill at all. |
| *People who have difficulty finding others to | | | | For example as a carer of an ill relative, or a baby |
| confide in, so bottling up years of emotions and | | | | or young children, during a period of house |
| pain at times of bereavement or loss. " | | | | renovation or construction, the demands of work |
| In itself this is not an inaccurate description of | | | | as primary source of income. |
| frequently seen characteristics of Fibromyalgia and | | | | In the absence of people that can help practically |
| CFS sufferers. However it is so broad that it can | | | | and emotionally in these life scenarios it can be |
| describe patients with a multitude of other | | | | very difficult to actually say "STOP". |
| conditions. | | | | Traditional medicine understood the importance of |
| As I have said many times the human body is a | | | | recuperation, rest, relaxation and contemplation as |
| remarkably resilient organism, able to | | | | an important therapeutical facet of overcoming |
| accommodate fantastic pressures and stresses, | | | | serious illnesses and infections. |
| but as with all machines and organisms there | | | | In the presence of a frightening array of diseases |
| comes a breaking point. | | | | which are now largely purged from modern |
| Stress appears to be a very large facilitating | | | | society, and the absence of powerful antibiotics |
| factor for people who become the unfortunate | | | | and antivirals, painkillers and analgesics, the body |
| ones to develop CFS and Fibromyalgia post | | | | was largely left to its own devices. |
| "trigger" infection or trauma. | | | | In Traditional medicine patients were often |
| A lesser, but still analogous example of stress | | | | treated with herbal tonics and natural cures, a lot |
| related conditions is frequently referred to as | | | | of these were incidentally quite effective but have |
| "burnout", or simply "stress" and I quote. | | | | now been largely forgotten, dismissed or |
| "A series of personal life circumstances combine | | | | dismantled and reproduced in synthetic form to |
| to create a "breaking point", for example; death | | | | provide the basis of 75% of modern |
| of a close family member, chronic pain, moving | | | | pharmaceuticals. |
| house, bullying at work, divorce, separation, | | | | However the primary strategy of the era |
| financial loss or redundancy have all been linked to | | | | involved long periods of rest and recuperation. |
| detrimental changes in health " | | | | By contrast, modern medicine and society place |
| How stress can become a causal factor in | | | | more importance on masking the symptoms, " |
| Fibromyalgia and CFS | | | | keeping a stiff upper lip", "knocking it on the head" |
| The initial trauma that was the notable "trigger" of | | | | and "getting back on the job" as quickly as |
| your CFS or Fibromyalgia is usually cited as a | | | | possible. |
| bacterial/viral or chemically invasive attack of | | | | A "get well quick" protocol which unfortunately is |
| some kind, but it has been noted that in some | | | | completely at odds with a recuperative strategy |
| sufferers extreme acute stress, such as | | | | for illnesses such as CFS and fibromyalgia. |
| bereavement, divorce, bullying, extremes of | | | | Learning to control and reduce stress is an |
| overwork may also be a trigger for CFS | | | | important and essential adjunct to any CFS and |
| symptoms in the absence of a notable infection | | | | Fibromyalgia recovery strategy. |
| or exposure. | | | | You will need to learn how to recognize stress |
| This makes sense in that scientific evidence has | | | | and how to short circuit the sequence of events |
| shown conclusively that stress lowers our immune | | | | that leads to a "stress spiral". |
| defenses against infection as witnessed by white | | | | Techniques of physical and psychological relaxation |
| blood cell and lymphocyte counts. | | | | are essential and very effective. |
| Also, stress has been shown to directly affect | | | | Learning when to say NO is essential and avoiding |
| the body in the short to medium term causing | | | | all events and activities that place you under |
| extreme fatigue and more disabling problems such | | | | unnecessary stress or anxiety are essential in the |
| as migraine, impairment of concentration and | | | | short to medium term. |
| memory and interrupted sleep patterns. | | | | In my next article on this subject I will be talking |
| Fortunately, as a society we have been woken | | | | about techniques that can be used effectively to |
| up to the negative effects of stress. | | | | short circuit and alleviate stress and anxiety at |
| As is often the case it has taken the negative | | | | home, in the car and at the workplace. |
| economic implications of stress to spur employers | | | | |