Especially -Perfectionists
- People pleasers (don't like to say No)
- Highly sensitive
- Have a strong desire to be liked by others
- Feel that they are "different" to other people

Oh yeah...that was me for sure! i will admit I not only cared too much what other people thought but I could also be controlling and impatient. I was always squelching my impatience because I didn't want to come across as mean to anyone...but I'd be steaming inside!

Perfectionist? Oh Yeah!!!
People Pleaser? Like a Golden retriever.
Highly Sensitive? A two edged sword.
Have a strong desire to be liked by others? Oh yes. Why else would I try so hard to please everyone?
Feel that they are "different" to other people? Since I was a kid.

CFS did away with my perfectionist ways. I still try to please everyone especially my kids and my granddaughter. I'm more sensitive than ever because I'm not always able to understand what people are talking about. Or who they're talking about. Cognitive Impairment.
I always felt different. Like there had been an announcement and I had missed it but everyone else heard it.

Refering to the link and the question about CFS and Type A Personalities answer yes, but thereis a lot not encoumpased by such a simple question.

To me the question is so simplistic its leadind to one conclusion -like the 'Quacks ' who 100 years ago hypothasised that Woman were neurologically unstable (mad) during menstruation, thankfully with the advance of science we know that is definitely not the case.

Yes I am Type A, yes I pushed myself., yes I was a high-achieving workaholic but if it comes down to two personality types, TypeA and Type B, that "Jacob Goldsmith theory" identified in the 1950's then why isn't half the world suffering from ME/CFS ????? .

https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FundraiserLandingPage?uselang=en&country=AU&template=Lp-layout-default&appeal-template=Appeal-template-default&appeal=Appeal-Gorillawarfare&form-template=Form-template-newgreenbox&form-countryspecific=Form-countryspecific-variable1&utm_medium=sitenotice&utm_source=B11_Donate_GWWeAccept_EN_AU&utm_campaign=C11_1114_AvsB_AU

I prefer more socially accurate and less Pop Psycological theories like the theoretical work of Carl Jung as published in the book Psychological Types as well as the the Four Temperaments system of Galen, based on the four humours model of Hippocrates; an extended Five Temperaments system based on the classical theory was published in 1958. Pop Psycology is naive and shallow, thats why its popular.

If you want to undresrand Psycology in conjunction with ME/CFS then look at the work that done in the gastrointestinal tract with bad pathogen bacterium. You may find that ME/CFS sufferers are prone to bad pathogen bacterium imbalances which make them, Competitive, Achievement-Orientated, Facially Tense (Tight Lips, Clenched Jaw, Etc, may be to do with ulcers),Tongue Clicking or Teeth Grinding (tension from a unhappy GI tract),Dark Circles Under Eyes (Immune system is stressed, inadequate sleep, allergoes, inadequite nutrition, hereditary, LIVER PROBLEMS ), Facial Sweating (On Forehead or Upper Lip).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periorbital_dark_circles

For me ME/CFS is mostly to do with GI gut balances and imbalances that eventually switch off or break the Endocrine and immune systems leading to neurological "down stream issues".


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personality_type

http://stress.about.com/od/understandingstress/a/type_a_person.htm

http://www.beat-chronic-fatigue-syndrome.com/who-gets-chronic-fatigue-syndrome.html

- Type A Personalities
The typical ME sufferer is an "A Type Personality", as defined by Friedmann & Rosenman in 1959.
"A Type" Personalities are often high-achieving workaholics who multi-task, push themselves and take on large amounts both in their personal and professional lives. They also might be controlling, competitive, time-conscious and impatient.
In addition people who develop ME/CFS tend to be:
- Perfectionists
- People pleasers (don't like to say No)
- Highly sensitive
- Have a strong desire to be liked by others
- Feel that they are "different" to other people

That is definitely something I can relate to. A high achieving, sacrificing and people pleasing personality is also far more prone to ther illnesses too, such as cancer, difgestive problems, autoimmune disease and particularly heart disease. It's important to bear this in mind. It's also important to remember that there are many people with that personality with no health problems at all.

I'm finding that one of the hardest parts of being ill is letting go of the desire to achieve and be successful and respected as this only makes you push through things that you know you shouldn't and the result is pain and payback. This is something that is really hard to do for a high achieving person - really, really hard.

And there's plenty of research, which shows there's no relationship between CFS and personality types.

Do certain personality types get the flu?

Let's take this illness seriously. Looking for personality types suggests it's a psychological disease. There's even more research, which shows CFS is a debilitating physical illness, with changes in the immune, endocrine systems and the brain.

Ok happybeans, Im really sorry I haven't been taking this illness seriously, I will stop now.

In my experience this illness was completely psychological, but I guess you know more than I do?

I also fit this Type A thing, but I don't put much store by it.

For what it's worth, I think it did play a role in contracting this illness. I was constantly stressed and run down over several years leading up to it.

I noticed on the bottom of this page was a disclaimer that said that the information was solely opinion based. It is an interesting commentary that the writer noted that some of the people who have cfs were as described in the link. It is not one that I agree with, as it has no references to medical studies and is taken from one person's opinion. As we all know, the path of this illness can be drastically different from one cfs sufferer to the next.
Personally, I believe where the causes and workings are so unknown, all ideas about this illness should be assessed by the medical community. I am extremely wary of those opinions that are blanketing statements by categorizing people into one group.
I think with cfs comes an almost insatiable desire to discover the why, what and how this illness works. We want to find out the root of our suffering whether we are activly persuing it or not.
The thing I have the biggest problem with on the website link is that the person is adamant there is a cure. Some people recover, some people do not, and some people go through waves of being ill. There is no defined cure for this illness, and for one person to insist that medical science is wrong in that regard is, in my opinion, wrong and dangerous. This illness is much more complex than one person's experience, and if it wasn't, we would all be perfectly healthy by now. I really wish the writer of the linked article was more informed about this illness.

Ali5tair - You obviously don't have a severe cognitive impairment. You always post long link-filled research mini lectures.

I can't read your post with any comprehension even if I force myself to try to read it at all.

CFSWarrior - You have no reason to apologize. We promise to be nice when adding a comment. We are all entitled to our opinions and to express them not in a condescending tone like happybeans.

I don't think that my personality caused this illness. But it was interesting to read that many with CFS have these personality traits.

Again.....Be Nice. DS is meant to be a safe place where we can share without fear of being ridiculed or criticized.

I have read before in numerous articles that there is a high percentage of type A personalities with cfs. While this was a long time ago I think ppl were trying to find links to something they didn't understand. I think the data on this subject could be dated but not sure. Since, it has been proven that 40% of healing is emotional and psycological no matter what the illness, personality would be part of that percentage but not all of it. Type A people get things done--we are the pioneers discovering the best path to healing--hooray for us

I agree with Vicki, we should curb our emotions to keep from making posters feel that their opinions are not welcome here...well said, Vicki.

On the matter being discussed, I'm completely in agreement with those who said that ME/CFS is not a psychological illness. There is an enormous amount of research evidence that has completely disproven that notion. I'm entirely convinced that ME/CFS has nothing whatsoever to do with lifestyle choices, personalities, childhood mistreatment, or emotional sensitivity.

That'sa really good point rasberries - type A personalities might push themselves making them more risk of many illnesses - not just CFS - but no doubt the characteristics associated with the A-type have been really important in finding cures and therapies for many illnesses including CFS too. Also there are many sufferers who wouldn't say they are type A personalities - and many millions of type A personalities who are not sick.

I did not have that personality type. But I was in some extreme stress.
After I got cfs, I started to not even care about some things because I was too tired to deal with it.
I think I was somewhere in the middle, but swung into the more laid back....kind of out of survival.
Anyone else do anything like that?

I think it is possible that A-type CFSers are more active on forums, more engage in discussing and sharing experiences and information. That probably can explain why so many A-type are here.

I'm never an A-type person myself. I got CFS when I was a happy and care-free child. I never even thought of pleasing anyone, because I didn't know there were anyone who was not happy as me. I enjoyed my life and being very active until I got sick. Even being sick I was quite a care-free and good-tempered kid (Well...too tired to worry about things and being angry anyway.)

On the contrary, I think that having CFS made me became more an A-type. Not really, but consider all my "hardwork". I pushed myself so hard to do things, even simple tasks. I wanted them done well. I wanted to achieve something so that my suffering hadn't being wasted.

I got over this kind of sentiments over time but sometimes I still can't help but feel that way. I had never worked hard to do anything before CFS, partly because I was only a kid, my job was solely enjoying life and having fun, and partly because it's easy for me to do things well without much effort. But after having CFS, doing anything, no matter how simple, is not easy.

The personality type theory is interesting. I do believe that being relaxed and easy-going is a factor which can help lowering the risk of health worsening. But personality change isn't the cure and it's unlikely the cause.