Chronic fatigue syndrome: Labels, meanings and consequences

In this month's issue, we report a survey of members of the Association of British Neurologists, which asked if they viewed chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) as a neurological condition—84% of respondents did not. This is at odds with current classification in ICD-10. We discuss the difficulties of classifying CFS and myalgic encephalopmeylitis (ME), including historical and sociological factors, the pitfalls of the physical/psychological dichotomy and why classification matters to doctors and patients.