Courjaret, Joachime, Schotte, Christiaan K W, Wijnants, Herlindis et al. · Journal of psychosomatic research · 2009 · DOI
This study looked at whether ME/CFS patients have more personality disorders than people without ME/CFS. Researchers tested 50 women with ME/CFS and compared them to 50 healthy women and 50 women with psychiatric conditions. They found that women with ME/CFS had similar personality traits and rates of personality disorders as healthy women, suggesting that personality problems are not a major cause of ME/CFS.
This study is important because it directly challenges the narrative that ME/CFS is primarily a psychological or personality-based condition. By demonstrating that ME/CFS patients have personality profiles similar to the general population, it provides evidence supporting the organic nature of the disease and may help reduce stigma and misattribution of symptoms to personality pathology.
This study does not prove that personality disorders play zero role in ME/CFS outcomes or symptom severity—it only addresses prevalence rates compared to controls. The cross-sectional design cannot establish causation or temporal relationships. Additionally, the findings are limited to female samples and may not generalize to male patients with ME/CFS.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
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