Kendell, R E · The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science · 1967 · DOI
This 1967 study examined whether people with benign myalgic encephalomyelitis (an early name for ME/CFS) experienced psychiatric symptoms or mental health challenges as a result of their illness. The researchers looked at patients with this condition to understand what psychological effects, if any, accompanied the physical symptoms of the disease.
This is one of the earliest medical investigations into the psychiatric aspects of ME/CFS, helping establish that psychological symptoms may be associated with the illness rather than being its primary cause. Understanding these connections is important for validating patients' experiences and ensuring appropriate clinical care that addresses both physical and mental health dimensions.
This study does not establish that psychiatric symptoms cause ME/CFS, nor does it prove that all ME/CFS patients experience psychiatric complications. The 1967 case-control design cannot establish causality, and diagnostic criteria for both the neurological condition and psychiatric outcomes were less standardized than in modern 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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