Symptoms And Treatment Of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Contested illnesses are disorders in which sufferers claim to have a specific illness that doctors do not acknowledge as medical (Conrad and Barker 2010). These illnesses are not associated with any recognized physical abnormalities which causes them to be not taken seriously. In addition, the tension between lay and medical understanding with regards to the cultural legitimation of symptoms can be exemplified with these disorders. The contested illness I chose to focus on in this paper is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. It will be examined the different criteria this disorder have that resulted it to be classified as a contested illnesses, as well as explore the social constructionist perspective in respect to this disorder. Moreover, it will be answered whether there is a gender dynamic involved in this condition in addition to the contribution big Pharma might or might not have. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, also known as CFS, falls under the category of contested disorders. These illnesses express numerous concerns about the reliability and consistency of the criteria applied to diagnose such disorders. CFS involves persistent inexplicable fatigue that often includes some sort of headache, muscle or joint pain, fever, sore throat, difficulty in concentrating, memory loss and dizziness (Ware 1992). Despite these symptoms, CFS fails to present any empirical diagnostic indicators, since it is not related with any recognized physical abnormality, making it susceptible to socialShow MoreRelatedFibromyalgia Research Paper777 Words   |  4 PagesAbnormal Psychology Research paper Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) is a musculoskeletal illness (which causes chronic pain) and a chronic Fatigue disorder. It can also change sleep patterns and cause the following: digestive disorders, chronic headaches, painful menstrual periods, temperature sensitivity, morning stiffness, numbness or tingling of extremities, and even cognitive memory problems. 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