Pain in people with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis: The role of traumatic stress and coping strategies

Abstract

Pain is a significant problem for many people with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)/myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). This exploratory study investigated the extent to which severity of pain was related to coping strategies and post-traumatic symptomatology in people with CFS/ME. Participants comprised 27 individuals with CFS/ME and 27 healthy controls. All participants completed the CFS/ME Symptom Questionnaire, the brief pain inventory, the impact of event scale-revised and the brief-COPE. It was found that CFS/ME participants present with significantly more post-traumatic stress symptoms and report significantly less emotion focused strategies and problem focused coping strategies compared with healthy controls. Severity of pain in the CFS/ME subgroup was not associated with traumatic symptomatology, although those with severe pain reported less use of self-distraction, positive re-framing and acceptance than those with mild pain. Our results suggest that the enhancement of certain coping strategies (facilitated by psychological interventions such as acceptance and commitment therapy) may be beneficial in alleviating pain in people with CFS/ME.

‘Betwixt and between’; liminality in recovery stories from people with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)

“…The dominant discourses through which ME/CFS is understood tend to emphasise the persistence and intractability of the symptoms (Grue , Krzeczkowska et al . , Pemberton and Cox ). Consequently, there is little material available concerned with recovery, barring a small number of long term outcome studies emphasising persistent impairment (Brown et al .…”

“…White et al 2011), the experience of recovery from the condition has so far not been thoroughly explored in the literature. The dominant discourses through which ME/CFS is understood tend to emphasise the persistence and intractability of the symptoms (Grue 2014, Krzeczkowska et al 2015, Pemberton and Cox 2014. Consequently, there is little material available concerned with recovery, barring a small number of long term outcome studies emphasising persistent impairment (Brown et al 2012) and case reports (Burgess and Chalder 2011).…”

Specifics of chronic fatigue syndrome coping strategies identified in a French flash survey during the COVID‐19 containment

“…People with ME/CFS show significantly less emotion-focused coping and problem-focused coping compared with healthy controls in an exploratory study using the brief COPE tool (Krzeczkowska et al, 2015). According to findings based on another scale WCC, they are also more likely to employ maladaptive strategies (Nater et al, 2012).…”

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Case Definitions, Possible Causes, and Therapies

“…In a study using measures, including the CFS/ME Symptom Questionnaire, 27 patients with CFS/ME presented with significantly more post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and fewer coping strategies for addressing pain than 27 healthy controls. 25 No specific metabolic alterations have been identified in patients with CFS. Researchers tested the hypothesis that patients with CFS have sensitized fatigue pathways in peripheral tissues that become activated during exercise and produce increased fatigue and pain.…”