Background Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a neurologic disease. Between 0,1-2,6% of the world’s population is estimated to have ME/CFS. Even though a lot of people are affected there is a lack of knowledge about the disease. Its symptomatology affects the whole body and is severely debilitating. It’s at utmost importance that this subject is studied so that nurses can get an increased knowledge about ME/CFS. Aim The aim was to highlight people's experiences of living with ME/CFS. Method A literature-based study based on analysis of ten qualitative scientific studies was performed. Results Four main themes and fourteen subthemes were revealed. The main themes were about changing living conditions, lack of knowledge, changes in the body and existential changes. Changes were a major part of the result and people with ME / CFS experienced that the changes could be both positive and negative. The results showed that there is a knowledge gap regarding ME / CFS, which has serious consequences for people with the diagnosis. Conclusion The conclusion of the study was that knowledge, information and support is important for people with ME / CFS. By working person-centered, the nurse can help people with ME / CFS feel better.

Background and Aims: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) remains a poorly understood condition, shrouded in uncertainty and dispute. Research suggests this context to have a profound bearing on those touched by the condition, impacting significantly on their experience and the narratives constructed thereof. However, no studies examining the narratives of partners of individuals affected by CFS/ME appear to have been carried out to date. Based upon this gap in the literature, this study sought to hear the narratives of partners of adults living with CFS/ME, giving particular consideration to the ways in which these narratives were told to an outsider, and how the outsider may have influenced the narrative. Methodology: This study drew on a qualitative approach. A purposive sample of six partners of adults affected by CFS/ME (4 men and 2 women) was recruited. Individual interviews were conducted that were audio-recorded and transcribed. Narrative analysis was used to analyse the transcripts, focusing principally on how participants narrated their accounts, as well as on the content of narratives and the narrative and discursive features that shaped the telling of the accounts. Analysis and Findings: Multiple readings of the narratives identified two areas of collective focus within participants' accounts - 'stories from then' and 'stories from now'. Some similarities in how 'stories from now' were told were seen to emerge down gender lines. Notably participants' storytelling could be seen to represent a form of response to wider narratives that purvey around CFS/ME, with participants' being observed to construct particular meanings around CFS/ME, as well as particular 'identities' of themselves, their partner, their relationship and 'others' who had played a key role in their story of living with the condition. The findings are discussed in terms of their potential bearing for clinical practice and future research endeavours. In addition, the strengths and the limitations of the research are considered.

D.Ed. (Nursing) / This research aims at the description of a therapeutic approach relevant to the youth suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome and includes his family, school and peer group. According to relevant literature it appears that chronic fatigue impacts negatively upon the total functioning of the youth. The physical demands of the condition leads to continual school-absenteeism, dysfunctional socialising and variable familial relationships. The condition is not easily diagnosed in youth as symptoms are often ascribed to school-phobia, deviant behaviour and/or psychological problems. In view of the fact that the researcher is of the opinion that the condition of the youth is not readily understood by his peers, family and school, the researcher aims at examining the experience of the youth who manifests chronic fatigue syndrome. The youth forms part of a specific system which is also affected by the chronic-fatigue-syndrome. Thus the research is aligned to a systemic approach. The researcher has decided to follow a qualitative research approach, with the deliberate choice of two youths subjected to the utilisation of multiple data-gathering sources. Multiple data-gathering includes interviews, document analysis and observation. The data has been analysed with the assistance of two independent coders and central themes have been established. Case study reports have been complied according to processed data. Hereafter a literature-control was applied to compare the results of this research with other available research and to point out new insights into chronic-fatigue syndrome gained from this research.

No description available.

Theory and evidence suggests that person-centred models may be especially relevant for elucidating the role of perfectionism in health and well-being in those with chronic health conditions. This may be particularly true for conditions, such as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), in which perfectionism is known to play a prominent role in health outcomes. Yet to date no research has taken a person-centred approach to examine how within-person combinations of perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns are linked to vulnerability for poor health in CFS. The current study compared matched samples of people with CFS and healthy controls (N = 163 each) on measures of stress, depression, and health problems. Consistent with the Stress and Coping Cyclical Amplification Model of Perfectionism in Illness and the tripartite model of perfectionism, within-person combinations of high perfectionistic concerns and strivings had the poorest health profile compared to other within-person combinations, but only among those with CFS. In addition, the perfectionism was indirectly associated with health through stress in those with CFS only. Findings add to a growing evidence base on the utility of person-centred models for understanding the health risks of perfectionism in the context of chronic illness.

The impacts of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) are far reaching, resulting in many burdens in the individual lives of CFS patients. One notable challenge lies in the inability to participate in the workforce due to associated physical, mental, and emotional symptoms. Previous research indicates that alternative employment options may help to overcome work related barriers presented with various types of chronic illness. Entrepreneurship is one path to working that offers many benefits, including autonomy, flexibility of work schedule, choice of work environment, and control. Questions though remain as to whether entrepreneurship enhances QOL or exacerbates symptoms among individuals with CFS. This interpretive descriptive study investigated the lived experiences of individuals diagnosed with CFS who have pursued a path of entrepreneurship. A semistructured interview was used to gather the 12 participants' descriptions of their history of living with CFS while working as entrepreneurs. The interviews were coded and analyzed to extract overarching themes. Results included the ways in which participants were transformed as a result of having CFS, their experiences of living with CFS and being self-employed, and the interpersonal factors that arose in connection with these experiences. This study served to shed light on the challenges involved in being self-employed while living with CFS, how being self-employed affected participants' quality of life both positively and negatively, and how participants interpret these changes. The findings of this study have the potential to set the stage for future qualitative and quantitative research that would provide more support in terms of tangible action when it comes to employment options for individuals living with CFS.

The project investigate the role of space, architecture and landscape in the rehabilitation process.

van der Pals, H & Kheder, N (2005) Riskfaktorer för utveckling av utbrändhet. En studie om utveckling av arbetsrelaterad utbrändhet. Examensarbete; omvårdnad, 10 poäng. Malmö Högskola: Hälsa och Samhälle, Utbildningsområde omvårdnad, 2005. Syftet med genomförd studie var att sjuksköterskor skall kunna arbeta på ett sätt som främjar deras hälsa och därmed motverkar utbrändhet. Studien är baserad på en enkätundersökning där 21 sjuksköterskor på onkologiska kliniken deltog. Enkätformuläret bestod av 20 frågor där känsla av utbrändhet etc. var graderad från 0, ingen känsla av utbrändhet till 6, kronisk känsla av utbrändhet. Resultatet visade att 91 % av sjuksköterskorna graderade känslan av utbrändhet respektive att befinna sig ”in the end of the rope” till 0-2. Hela 38 % angav 0 i båda frågorna. Samtidigt anger 90 % av sjuksköterskorna att de känner sig utarbetade mot slutet av dagen. Av detta drar vi slutsatsen att sjuksköterskorna på onkologiska kliniken har en mycket låg grad av utbrändhet trots det känslomässigt krävande arbetet. Slutsatsen av vår studie är att sjuksköterskorna på onkologiska kliniken är trygga i sin arbetsroll och upplever att de har energi och kraft att hjälpa sina patienter. De upplever sitt arbete som meningsfullt. Å andra sidan upplever de höga känslomässiga krav och belastning troligen beroende på den svåra situation deras patienter och anhöriga befinner sig i. De har ett gott arbets- och samarbetsklimat på kliniken och upplever totalt sett en mycket låg känsla av utbrändhet. Tolkning av resultat genomfördes utifrån den amerikanska psykologen Christina Maslach och svenska socialpsykologen Johan Asplund.Nyckelord: emotionellt utarbetad, riskfaktorer, sjuksköterska, utbändhet / van der Pals, H & Kheder, N (2005) Riskfactors for development of burnout. A study on workrelated burnout. Degree project,10 credit points. Malmö University Health and Society, Departement of Nursing, 2005. The objective of the present investigation was to identify working procedures for nurses promoting wellbeing and thereby preventing syndromes of chronic fatigue or “burnout”. The study is based on a inquiry performed with the participation of 21 nurses working at an oncology clinic. The inquiry consisted of 20 questions where feeling of fatigue etc. were graded from 0, no feeling of fatigue, to 6, chronic fatigue. The result showed that 91 % of the nurses graded the feeling of burnout on being “in the end of the rope” to 0-2. 38 % of all participants responded 0 to both questions. At the same time 90 % of the nurses indicated a feeling of worn out by the end of the working day. The conclusion of the study is that the nurses at the clinic of oncology feel confident and calm in their roles and feel that they have the energy and strength to help the patients. The nurses experience their work as meaningful. On the other hand they experience a high emotional demand and harden likely due to the difficult situation of the patients and their relatives. The nurses have a good working climate characterized by a good collaboration and experience overall a low feeling of burnout. The interpretation of the result of the inquiry was performed according to the principles presented by the psychologists Christina Maslach, USA, and Johan Asplund, Sweden.Key words: burnout, nurse, riskfactors, syndrome of chronic fatigue

Hysteria has been researched from many different angles, but this thesis focuses on the persistence of gendered medical diagnoses following the demise of hysteria. In Chapter One, I provide an overview of hysteria’s long history, beginning with the first reference to the disorder in Ancient Egypt. I then conduct a study of nineteenth-century hysteria in Chapter Two, where I highlight the interactions between medicine and culture that characterized the hysteria epidemic in Victorian Britain and America. Chapter Three continues this discussion of nineteenth-century hysteria, detailing the rise of psychological explanations for hysteria in Europe. My most important research, however, comes in Chapters Four and Five where I chronicle the rise of specific diagnoses that replaced hysteria in the twentieth century. I focus on gendered wastebasket diagnoses—illnesses that predominantly affect women, are categorized based on shared symptoms rather than causes, and are defined in relation to femininity. In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the descriptions of certain psychiatric conditions that are more frequently diagnosed in women contain stigmatizing language used to describe hysteria, especially in the nineteenth century. Outside of the psychiatric realm, chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia are also wastebasket diagnoses that are described by both doctors and academics using the dismissive language of earlier descriptions of hysteria. I argue that throughout all of this history, the mutual influence of medical theory and cultural assumptions—particularly about gender and femininity—has allowed women’s mysterious medical complaints to remain unexplained. The ambiguous nature of conditions descended from hysteria and their association with femininity causes doctors to return to long-standing stereotypes that diminish the suffering of these patients. Many patients with these conditions struggle to access effective treatments for their symptoms. Understanding these illnesses in the historical context of hysteria can help explain and address these experiences. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA) / The medical field has long been influenced by its surrounding cultural context. Social factors, including gender, race, and class, all colour the ways in which illnesses are understood and patients are treated. This thesis examines these interactions between medicine and culture in the context of nineteenth-century hysteria and the related diagnoses that arose to replace it in the twentieth century. The disease entity hysteria disappeared in the early twentieth century, but patients continued to experience the symptoms associated with hysteria under a range of diagnostic titles. Situating these illnesses in the historical context of hysteria can help address patient complaints and deconstruct the stigmatizing stereotypes that affect these patients— particularly those stereotypes associated with femininity that were once attributed to hysteria patients

Hierdie studie is 'n kwalitatiewe ekosistemiese ondersoek van die fenomeen Chroniese Moegheidsindroom (CMS) . Die paradigmaverskuiwing vanaf die Cartesiaans-Newtoniaanse epistemologie na die kubernetiese epistemologie, het 'n aantal belangrike implikasies vir die bestudering en konseptualisering van CMS, soos uiteengesit in hierdie studie. 'n Bespreking van die konseptualisering en behandeling van CMS vanuit die tradisionele, reduksionistiese navorsing word verskaf. Die aannames van twee-orde kubernetika en sosiale konstruksionisme, is bespreek en toegepas op die beskrywing van twee sisteme waarin CMS voorkom. Die navorsingsmetodologie van die studie is gegenereer op grand van die genoemde teoretiese aannames. Die implikasies van die toepassing van die ekosistemiese epistemologie vir die konseptualisering van CMS word uitgewys. Die herkonseptualisering van CMS as 'n transisieproses word bespreek en riglyne vir verdere navorsing en psigoterapie word aangedui. Die huidige studie bied 'n beskrywing van die unieke betekenisse en oplossings wat gesinne genereer tydens die veranderings wat CMS vergesel. / The present study is a qualitative ecosystemic exploration of the phenomenon known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). The paradigm shift from the Newtonian epistemology to the epistemology of cybernetics, has important implication for research and the conceptualisation of CFS, as indicated in the study. The traditional, reductionist conceptualisation of CFS in research and treatment methods, is discussed. The suppositions of second order cybernetics and social constructionism, are discussed and applied in the description of two systems where CFS occurs. The research methodology of the present study is generated from the theoretical suppositions. Die implications of the use of the ecosystemic epistemology for the conceptualisation of CFS are indicated. The re-conceptualisation of CFS as a transition process is discussed and guidelines are given for future research and psychotherapy. The present study is a description of the unique meanings and solutions that the families generated during the changes that accompany CFS. / Psychology / M.A. (Kliniese Sielkunde)