Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is one of the most misunderstood medical diseases of the modern age. Many doctors have previously dismissed the condition or have considered it a case of depression or other mental illness while patients frequently avoid seeking medical assistance and attempt to cope alone with a problem that can be quite dehabilitating but often hard to accept and discuss with others.
Although researchers estimate that 500,000 to 800,000 individuals are afflicted with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in the United States alone, approximately 85% go undiagnosed for a number of reasons.
Often, medical practitioners are unfamiliar with or do not recognize the condition. Many patients feel dismissed when attempting to discuss feeling of excessive fatigue with an uniformed medical practitioner. Frequently patients hesitate to seek help for an low energy condition or feel put off after concluding that symptoms may be viewed as simple laziness by those not familiar (including often doctors, employees, and family members) with the disease. In fact, some doctors compare the severity and impact of CFS to conditions such as heart failure or other serious illnesses which are more recognized and taken much more seriously.
The financial impact of CFS can be quite devastating nationally as well as personally. Lost wages related to CFS is estimated at 9 billion per year with an average loss of family income of $20,000 per year related to the illness. Individual family financial losses do not include the money spent on medical treatment and drugs (often quite costly) and don’t account for the financial and social losses such as decreased tax dollars, decreased community service contributions, and hours and services lost on the job.