Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (and Chronic Fatigue)

Most individuals complaining of chronic fatigue feel a lack of ability to function at a desirable level. Most feel that this represents a change, in that they did not used to be tired and were able to function at a desirable level. Chronicity can simply be defined as being longer than the person thought reasonable following an acute illness. Many physicians equate chronic fatigue with the chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), but I prefer to differentiate the two and will expand on this differentiation in this chapter.