Coping with Chronic Fatigue (Transaction Large Print Books) [Large Print] [Library Binding]

Trudie Chalder (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1998 | Series: Transaction Large Print Books

Feeling tired is so common we consider it normal. Yet chronic fatigue can affect people so severely it prevents them from leading normal lives. Trudie Chalder explains what it is and how it can develop. You'll be amazed at the benefits you can feel by making a few changes in your life, developing a positive mental attitude, controlling the amount of activity you do, improving your sleep and your diet, and coping successfully with difficulties and setbacks. If constant tiredness is affecting the way you live, this book can show you how to break the cycle of fatigue.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Trudie Chalder is a lecturer in psychological medicine at Kings College Hospital and the Institute of Psychiatry, London. She has worked extensively with chronic fatigue sufferers and has been researching into the causes and treatment of fatigue for more than ten years. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Library Binding: 96 pages
• Publisher: ISIS Large Print Books (September 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1856950786
• ISBN-13: 978-1856950787
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,459,689 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars It's all in your head neurologically speaking, February 24, 2004

By 

profile deleted - See all my reviews

This review is from: Coping with Chronic Fatigue (Overcoming Common Problems) (Paperback)

Like most people, I find the mind-body connection fascinating. I also believe the best treatment combines the organic and mental health issues to be dealt with by patients of chronic biological illness.

Unfortuanately, Ms Chalder appears to ignore the organic in favor of indiscriminate psychiatric analysis. While I think this might be a helpful book in general for psychiatric patients who are dealing with being down in the dumps or tired, beyond that it appears to be limited in both scope and application. Thus the one star rating.

There appears to be very little here for patients biologically diagnosed with the grave and severely disabling disease known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), ME in the United Kingdom. The World Health Organization has listed the discrete disease, CFS under neurological disorders specifically excluding it from psychiatric disorders. While chronic fatigue should not be ignored, it is a common symptom of many grave illness such as cancer, liver disease and heart disease, as well as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

Patients diagnosed with the organic illness, CFS, should be careful regarding graded exercise. The reason is that Ms. Chalder's research on psychiatric patients, that may or may not have the neurological disorder known as CFS, cannot be applied to other patient poplulations. Biological research in the U.S. has shown that graded exercise can cause harm in people with this neurological disorder. Patients may find Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helpful in developing coping skills, but, the premise that one can cure themselves of organic disease by denying their biological illness is quite controversial and unfortunatlet unproven at this time. Many other psychological therapies provide help in dealing and coping with any chronic illness through support and affirmation.

I firmly believe mental health should be taken seriously, instead of being disparaged, but I believe there are more applicable and practical books available to the chronically ill, including neurologial CFS patients.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not Applical to CFS, July 2, 2011

By 

C. Maryhew (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Coping with Chronic Fatigue (Overcoming Common Problems) (Paperback)

Unfortunately Chalder has repeatedly blurred the lines between chronic fatigue syndrome and chronic fatigue. In the process, she has essentially reduced her perception of CFS to mere chronic fatigue, and tries to apply the same treatment to both, completely ignoring the many physical, not cognitive or behaviour, dysfunctions that underly CFS.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Dangerous, February 21, 2010

By 

Justin Reilly, esq. (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Coping with Chronic Fatigue (Overcoming Common Problems) (Paperback)

Dangerously conflates the devastating neuro-immune disease ME ("CFS") with Idiopathic Chronic Fatigue (the symptom of fatigue with no known medical cause). The resulting prescription of graded exercise is extremely dangerous for people with ME. Buy this book if you want your disease to become worse.