Eriksen, H R, Ursin, H · Journal of psychosomatic research · 2004 · DOI
This review suggests that common symptoms like pain, tiredness, sleep problems, and digestive issues in conditions like ME/CFS may occur when the body's normal sensing system becomes overly sensitive. Rather than being caused by hidden disease, these symptoms may develop when people experience sustained stress and feel helpless, causing the nervous system to amplify normal bodily signals until they become unbearable.
This theoretical framework offers an alternative explanation for why ME/CFS patients experience severe symptoms without proportionate objective medical findings, and suggests that understanding sensitization mechanisms could inform treatment approaches targeting attention, coping, and arousal regulation.
This review does not prove that ME/CFS is purely psychological or that physical pathology does not exist. It does not establish causation between stress and symptom development, nor does it rule out that some cases may have underlying organic disease. The proposed mechanism is theoretical rather than empirically validated in this paper.
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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Primary citation
Eriksen, H R & Ursin, H (2004). Subjective health complaints, sensitization, and sustained cognitive activation (stress).. Journal of psychosomatic research. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3999(03)00629-9
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-eriksen-2004-subjective-health,
author = {Eriksen, H R and Ursin, H},
title = {Subjective health complaints, sensitization, and sustained cognitive activation (stress).},
journal = {Journal of psychosomatic research},
year = {2004},
doi = {10.1016/S0022-3999(03)00629-9},
note = {PubMed: 15094030},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/eriksen-2004-subjective-health},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/eriksen-2004-subjective-health
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