Redmond, G · International journal of fertility and women's medicine · 1997
This paper discusses why women often experience mood changes and fatigue, and how doctors can help. The authors suggest that these symptoms are often related to depression rather than hormonal problems alone, and that SSRIs (a common type of antidepressant) can be helpful for many women. They also emphasize the importance of listening to patients about stress and life challenges.
This paper is relevant to ME/CFS because it acknowledges CFS as a distinct condition in women while exploring the overlap between mood disorders and fatigue states. Understanding how clinicians differentiate between primary depression with fatigue and conditions like ME/CFS is important for ensuring ME/CFS patients receive appropriate diagnosis and avoid misattribution of their symptoms to mood disorders alone.
This article does not establish whether ME/CFS has a primary mood disorder component or is a separate neurobiological condition. It also does not provide evidence that SSRIs are effective for ME/CFS specifically, nor does it address post-exertional malaise or immune dysfunction characteristic of ME/CFS. The piece is a clinical opinion review rather than an empirical study with controlled comparison groups.
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
Redmond, G (1997). Mood disorders in the female patient.. International journal of fertility and women's medicine. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9160215/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-redmond-1997-mood-disorders,
author = {Redmond, G},
title = {Mood disorders in the female patient.},
journal = {International journal of fertility and women's medicine},
year = {1997},
note = {PubMed: 9160215},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/redmond-1997-mood-disorders},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/redmond-1997-mood-disorders
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