My Reply To A Redditor Comment PART 1

Posted to save my response after an OP deleted their comment, so Mods deleted my reply, and I don't want to lose my writing.

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To answer your post tile, no, it is not. There is evidence that those who experience traumatic events and | or Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) - such as Child Abuse, Abduction, Domestic Violence, Armed Forces, etc are at higher risk of Depression and Anxiety or suffer from Depression in higher numbers - but Chronic Fatigue, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis are not developed by individuals *directly because* they have a traumatic past or traumatic event in their lives.

I suffered from severe, recurrent, suicidal episodes of Major Depression for 20 years, from ages 10 to 30, along with other co-morbid conditions, like Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

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How I Recovered from Depression and Anxiety:

It took 24 medications, some tried more than once to three times, from ages 14 to 22; at least two psychiatric hospitalizations; two years of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (DBT | CBT, even though I don't have Borderline Personality Disorder);

Peer Support Groups; Supportive Counselling, twelve years of Trauma and Memory Work Therapy with a skilled Psychotherapist; time for my brain and its processes to mature; and a Major abdominal surgery for me to recover.

My recovery also took friends, and light socializing at times.

It took several years for me, in part because I have a Brain Injury from birth - and had to escape from, and address, a significant period of being held captivive

Every different thing I did to recover may not work for you, OP. There is no one size fits all; yet therapy and medication are two of the most often tried, tested, and true treatments that are known to work, but even they take time due to different variables.

Oddly, I had 18 months of excellent physical and mental health after my major surgery, before I suddenly began experiencing (ME) CFS, Fibromyalgia, and Myofascial Pain symptoms. I have not experienced a MDD episode since 2013-2014. I had done the bulk of my Trauma Therapy work. After 17 years of struggle, 18 months after "full recovery," my MECFS symptoms began. I have never recovered.

Given my history with Depression and Anxiety, I waited for MECFS to "make me" have a Depressive episode...and in my nearly 11 years of having MECFS...I never have.

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Depression can cause Chronic Fatigue, but it is *not* the same as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome | MECFS.

I had the symptoms of Depression when I was ill - NOT MECFS or Fibromyalgia.

I was physically more able and healthy overall during my years of serious mental illness - because I had Depression relating to my trauma - not because I had MECFS.

I was mentally ill - not neuro-immune ill. The diagnosed Major Depression Disorder, Obssessive-Compulsive Disorder, Panic Attack Disorder, Social Anxiety, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder I lived with were their own form of enveloping hell.

But even iin that hell, **I was more functional overall and had a greater quality of life at the time, than I do now, living with MECFS.**