Fortune, D G, Richards, H L, Main, C J et al. · Clinical and experimental dermatology · 2002 · DOI
This study looked at how people with psoriasis (a skin condition) cope with their illness by comparing their coping strategies to healthy people and those with other diseases. Researchers found that psoriasis patients most often use acceptance and planning to manage their condition, while least often turning to alcohol, drugs, or denial. Interestingly, people with psoriasis used fewer active coping strategies than healthy controls, but used similar coping approaches to patients with other conditions like chronic fatigue syndrome and cancer.
While this study examines psoriasis rather than ME/CFS, it demonstrates that patients with invisible chronic illnesses (like chronic fatigue syndrome, which is explicitly mentioned) employ similar coping mechanisms across disease types. Understanding these generic coping patterns can inform interventions for ME/CFS patients and highlight that coping strategies may need individualization regardless of disease visibility or severity.
This study does not prove that any particular coping strategy is more effective for managing psoriasis or other conditions—it only describes which strategies patients report using most frequently. The cross-sectional design cannot establish causality or determine whether certain coping strategies lead to better health outcomes. Additionally, findings about psoriasis may not directly translate to ME/CFS management without disease-specific research.
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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