On 2016 Sep 15, Lily Chu commented:

As a member of the Institute of Medicine Committee, I talked to multiple patients, caregivers, clinicians, and researchers. The problem they have with the name "CFS" goes beyond psychological stigma. For one, fatigue is only one symptom of the disease but not even the most disabling one for patients. Post-exertional malaise and cognitive issues are. Secondly, most patients and families are concerned about psychological implications not because of stigmatization but simply because CFS is NOT a psychological or psychiatric condition. Some patients experience co-morbid depression, acknowledge its presence, and receive treatment for it. In support groups, patients discuss depression and anxiety without fear of stigma. The problem comes when clinicians or researchers conflate patients' depression with their CFS and conclude that they can treat the latter condition with cognitive behavioral therapy or with SSRIs. An analogy would be if tomorrow, patients experiencing myocardial infarcts and major depression were told aspirin, B-blockers, cholesterol medication, etc. would no longer be the treatments for myocardial infarcts but instead SSRIs would be. Could you imagine how patients would feel in that circumstance? That is why they are concerned.

On 2016 Sep 15, Lily Chu commented:

As a member of the Institute of Medicine Committee, I talked to multiple patients, caregivers, clinicians, and researchers. The problem they have with the name "CFS" goes beyond psychological stigma. For one, fatigue is only one symptom of the disease but not even the most disabling one for patients. Post-exertional malaise and cognitive issues are. Secondly, most patients and families are concerned about psychological implications not because of stigmatization but simply because CFS is NOT a psychological or psychiatric condition. Some patients experience co-morbid depression, acknowledge its presence, and receive treatment for it. In support groups, patients discuss depression and anxiety without fear of stigma. The problem comes when clinicians or researchers conflate patients' depression with their CFS and conclude that they can treat the latter condition with cognitive behavioral therapy or with SSRIs. An analogy would be if tomorrow, patients experiencing myocardial infarcts and major depression were told aspirin, B-blockers, cholesterol medication, etc. would no longer be the treatments for myocardial infarcts but instead SSRIs would be. Could you imagine how patients would feel in that circumstance? That is why they are concerned.