Reeves, William C, Lin, Jin-Mann S, Nater, Urs M · BMC public health · 2013 · DOI
This study looked at how common mental health conditions like anxiety and depression are in people living in different areas of Georgia (cities, towns, and rural areas). Researchers found that people with ME/CFS-like illness had higher rates of anxiety and depression than people without the condition. Women, people with less education, and those living in rural areas were more likely to experience these mental health conditions.
This study demonstrates a strong association between ME/CFS-like illness and psychiatric comorbidity, particularly anxiety and mood disorders at rates notably higher than national prevalence. Understanding these associations is crucial for primary care providers managing ME/CFS patients, as recognition of comorbid psychiatric conditions may improve treatment outcomes and clinical management strategies.
This study does not establish whether psychiatric conditions cause ME/CFS-like illness, result from it, or are separate but coincident conditions. The cross-sectional design prevents determination of temporal relationships or causality. Additionally, the study uses a CFS-like definition rather than strict ME/CFS diagnostic criteria, so findings may not directly apply to formally diagnosed ME/CFS patients.
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
Reeves, William C, Lin, Jin-Mann S, & Nater, Urs M (2013). Mental illness in metropolitan, urban and rural Georgia populations.. BMC public health. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-414
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-reeves-2013-mental-illness,
author = {Reeves, William C and Lin, Jin-Mann S and Nater, Urs M},
title = {Mental illness in metropolitan, urban and rural Georgia populations.},
journal = {BMC public health},
year = {2013},
doi = {10.1186/1471-2458-13-414},
note = {PubMed: 23631737},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/reeves-2013-mental-illness},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/reeves-2013-mental-illness
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