Why Mental Lethargy When Sick

During an infection, humans typically experience a set of physiological and psychological symptoms, including fever, confusion, decreased motivation, depression and anxiety that are accompanied by a slowing of movements.

These changes, collectively known as “sickness behavior,” are the body’s way of conserving energy during illness so that an effective immune response can be launched. This new study helps researchers further understand how cytokines communicate between the immune system and the brain to promote sickness behavior.

Since many people with CFS/ME have chronic fevers and other symptoms similar to those of infectious illnesses, I have to wonder if the results of this study will be examined with regards to CFS/ME.

The possibility of an efficacious treatment for CFS is exciting. I’ll be watching the news for more information on this angle.

Being in pain all the time can certainly lead to depression. That’s just logical. There are, however, people who have fibromyalgia who are not clinically depressed. Depression can also manifest as physical pain, but it is does not meet the criteria for fibromyalgia.

I was treated for depression for years before I developed FMS, though, and I truly believe that if I’d gotten proper treatment for mental health issues in my childhood (post-traumatic stress disorder and all the complications it brought, including major depressive disorder) I probably wouldn’t have developed FMS.

I never have trouble distinguishing between the two, or between either of them and CFS/ME, which I also have. They’re all quite different.

With FMS, the pain causes fatigue, and together they can (but don’t always) have an affect on your emotions. You may feel like doing something, but your body absolutely will not cooperate. There have been times when I’ve been feeling great, gone out to do something I was SO looking forward to — and nearly collapsed in the middle of everything when my body said, “All right, that’s it, no more. Done. Where’s the bed?” (We’ve joked that if I ever manage to get a scooter or electric wheelchair, it will have to have a remote control feature so that Sam can steer me on home when I’ve passed out.)

But serious clinical depression…it doesn’t matter whether you’ve got the physical energy or not. Logic doesn’t matter. Knowing that you’d feel better for having a nice, hot shower is utterly irrelevant. The fact that the telephone ringing is contributing to your headache, and you could make it stop by merely lifting up your arm up pushing a button, is irrelevant, because lifting your arm would take too much damned effort. Yes, somewhere, on some level, you may know that you’ll lose yet more function for not getting up and doing your exercises, but it’s less important than staring at the ceiling, or the pillow, or whatever is in front of your face right now. Not that you really make any kind of conscious value judgment or anything, but the staring has inertia going for it. Even if nothing IS hurting, even if you have all the energy in the world and you could do anything you just don’t care.

Remember that, the next time you hear someone claiming that FMS and depression are the same.

I’m pleased with it. There are very few, mostly immaterial inaccuracies.

She also interviewed Sam, since the topic was “fibromyalgia and intimacy.” He’s so wonderful!

I hope all of you had a great day