Hawton, K E, Hengeveld, M W · Nederlands tijdschrift voor geneeskunde · 1991
This 1991 review article examines the psychiatric aspects of chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), exploring how mental health factors relate to the condition. The authors discuss the connection between psychiatric symptoms and fatigue, helping to clarify whether psychological issues cause ME/CFS or occur alongside it. This work contributed to early medical understanding of how ME/CFS affects both the body and mind.
Early clinical perspectives on ME/CFS psychiatry remain historically important for understanding how the field evolved from viewing the condition through a primarily psychiatric lens to recognizing its biological basis. This paper reflects 1990s medical thinking and helped shape subsequent research directions regarding psychiatric comorbidity versus disease etiology in ME/CFS.
This review does not establish that psychiatric conditions cause ME/CFS, nor does it prove that ME/CFS is primarily a psychiatric disorder. As a narrative review without new empirical data, it cannot demonstrate causal mechanisms or provide quantitative evidence about the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms in ME/CFS populations.
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 →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Hawton, K E & Hengeveld, M W (1991). [Chronic fatigue syndrome; psychiatric aspects].. Nederlands tijdschrift voor geneeskunde. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1944667/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-hawton-1991-chronic-fatigue,
author = {Hawton, K E and Hengeveld, M W},
title = {[Chronic fatigue syndrome; psychiatric aspects].},
journal = {Nederlands tijdschrift voor geneeskunde},
year = {1991},
note = {PubMed: 1944667},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/hawton-1991-chronic-fatigue},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/hawton-1991-chronic-fatigue
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