[Psychological symptoms in chronic fatigue syndrome]

Patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) frequently complain of psychological symptoms including depression, anxiety, and neuropsychological impairment. In addition, patients with CFS have been reported to be more likely to have psychiatric diseases such as major depressive disorder, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and personality disorder. In the present review article, psychological symptoms and psychiatric comorbidity in CFS patients were introduced. In addition, differentiation between CFS and psychiatric disorders were discussed, because there have been few studies on comorbidity and differentiation between CFS and undifferentiated somatoform disorder although there has been heated debate about the existence of CFS itself.