Differences between CFS and Major Depression

"Although fatigue and some of the other symp­toms of CFS could reflect a primary psychiatric disor­der, several other symptoms of CFS are not characteristic of psychiatric illnesses—for example, sore throat, adenopathy, and post-exertion malaise...."

"...a careful controlled trial failed to demonstrate an improvement in fatigue from treatment with fluox­etine in patients with CFS, even in those with a con­comitant major depression. Indeed, even the concomi­tant depression did not improve, indicating, that the phenotype called "depression" in CFS patients may stem ftom an unusual underlying pathology."

"...studies using structured psychiatric interviews fmd no evidence of major depression in many (>­60%) of patients with CFS, either before or after the onset of CFS. In our studies, the majority of patients also have had no evidence of anxiety disorders or somatization disorders at any time in their lives, in­cluding after the onset of CFS."