Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) - a pathological condition that has become one of the most common in the world

It is manifested by increased irritability, fatigue, pain and aches in the muscles, often headaches and pains "all over the body", unwillingness and inability to work both physically and mentally. A person is overcome by fatigue, which does not go away even after a long rest.

Yesterday, so successful and striving to change and improve a lot in his life, a person suddenly feels a lack of strength, unwillingness to move, go somewhere, do something, communicate and solve important issues, be among people, speak on the phone and even hear him a call - everything causes the strongest irritation. Pain and heaviness spread throughout the body, the body becomes heavy and somehow alien. It asks for peace, rest, sleep. But it is difficult to fall asleep, and even then - not always. The perception of the environment is distorted, attention and memory deteriorate, the very meaning of life becomes blurred. I don't want activity, relationships, previous commitments. The condition begins to repeat itself more and more often …

There are no quick and effective treatments for CFS. its main cause has not yet been established, despite the fact that medicine has been studying this disease for more than 20 years. Different theories, different opinions - factors that weaken the body: infections, especially severe viral, chronic diseases and intoxication (smoking, alcohol, etc.), unhealthy diet, imbalance of the autonomic nervous system, as well as genetics, constant stressful situations, etc. is it fatigue, lack of sleep that lead to increased susceptibility and weakening of the body? A vicious circle is forming …

But it is reliably known that CFS affects primarily residents of large cities, which are characterized by an intense rhythm of life with an ever-increasing mental and psychological stress. Women suffer from CFS about 2 times more often than men. Symptoms can appear at the age of 25-45, the most able-bodied, and more often in people who are successful and hardworking, with higher education, striving for career growth. And there comes a time when they say “I don’t want to,” which really means “I can’t,” because of lack of strength, because of fatigue, because of the need to constantly react and make decisions. The requirements for life and life have changed - for us.

Once one of the patients told how all her employees were happy when they moved to a new bright office - glass in a large metropolitan business center: spacious rooms in the open space style, additional lighting, ventilation, thermal regulation, a friendly team, which together must ensure friendly work - and this is all in plain sight. If you are at work, what kind of privacy can we talk about? The working conditions required increased dedication. And after a couple of years, people began to get tired, more tired. They began to associate this with the lack of fresh air due to the inability to open the windows. With the operation of air conditioners, which continuously heated rooms during the day in the winter or cooled them in the summer.

Of course, all these factors took place. But few people thought that all these people - young, healthy, active for some reason - cannot recover in time (every day on weekdays and on weekends). And they suffer from the same symptoms - lack of strength to start an active new day, weakness, memory impairment, slight bodily "malaise", and sometimes - tremors, tachycardia attacks, sciatica, stomach pains, insomnia, lack of any desires, except - to rest, wait for the next vacation … But this coveted rest brings short-term relief.

We define fatigue as a feeling that accompanies and expresses excess energy expenditure. As a symptom, fatigue - CFS - is the result of a conflict between internal and external forces associated with the environment. Or between the opposing forces within the psychic apparatus itself - it is possible - not possible, I can - I can not and must!

Basically, people who are used to and love to work quickly and easily adapt, and due to the suppression of affects, they seem calm and adequate. Society demands not only not to show its anger, laziness or envy, which takes a lot of its own energy, but all the time to strive to comply with its slogans: "You must, no matter what" … Must be successful, strong, strong, healthy. Must have a car (such and such a brand), an apartment, a house, vacation abroad, etc. Must achieve wealth, fame, strive for perfection. “All this depends only on you,” the society asserts.

A person sets himself unbearable tasks, makes too high demands on himself, works to exhaustion, not seeing the end - the edge of his "noble" aspirations. Added to this is a huge amount of information, physical and mental stress at work, lack of time and irregular working hours. Moreover, static uncomfortable postures when working at a desk, at computers, the inability to have "personal" space, constant noise. The same patient said that when she came home from work, she first of all listened to silence. Quite often you hear - “There is no time to rest! I can miss something”- constant control, like the inability to close your eyes, as if during this time life itself will forget about you. As if - if not now, then already - never !!!

But energy reserves tend to be depleted if recharging has not occurred on time. Psychosomatic therapists are surprised to note that these people do not listen to their own fatigue. After all, at first, fatigue after rest is reversible. But they don't seem to notice that they are tired. Fatigue stops playing its usual role of signaling fatigue. Fatigue, which is in the service of the body, ceases to guard it, does not tell the body that it is time to rest. This is why many people drive themselves to the point of exhaustion.

In early childhood, the need for rest functions in the wakefulness-sleep mode and is most closely associated with hunger. The hungry child screams. He may hallucinate the breast for some time, but when this breast does not appear for a long time, the infant, after exertion and excitement, falls asleep in exhaustion. And then the dream of such a baby, exhausted by screaming and expectation, is very different from the dream of a baby who has enjoyed food and caress, calmed down by the mother.

When the experience is repeated, it becomes a feature of the behavior. And an adult's sleep often depends on how this adult was treated in childhood. Going to sleep can plunge both the child and the adult into despair that can only be eliminated by exhausting oneself. Then the signals of fatigue are nothing compared to the fear of falling asleep, as it was in childhood, falling asleep without finding satisfaction, support and security. Sleep can only come to a completely exhausted person. Only exhaustion gives sleep and short rest. Most often, this is why such people are overly active both at work, in society, and at home, as long as their strength allows. Until it is formed FATIGUE SYNDROME - CHRONIC.

Each person has their own needs, satisfied or not, their own experience of relationships. Everyone will subsequently pick up "this need" or work out a "habitual pattern" of behavior. For this is our first knowledge of our recognition in this world, the basis of our confidence. But something is meant to turn this program on, to make trauma a trauma.

They try to treat CFS with medical methods, and then the main type of help is the treatment of the symptoms manifested in CFS, whether it be the state of the internal organs or the nervous system. They are trying to strengthen the immune system, methods of physical rehabilitation are widely used.

Taking into account the possible causality and pathogenesis of CFS, we understand how relevant is the psychological impact on the suffering integral system of regulation of human life. There are various ways of psychological correction. Today psychology actively relies on the experience of ancient practices of working with fatigue, work with the body.

We see how important psychodynamic therapy becomes in the case of CFS, psychoanalysis, which will help to unravel the interweaving of children's unmet needs, simply put - traumas, as well as the moment and reason for the "inclusion" of these traumas in our lives. It will help in the transfer to "restore" and relive the need for intimacy, empathy, find and confirm your recognition, your uniqueness.