Hyperventilation in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: the role of coping strategies.

Hyperventilation has been suggested as a concomitant and possible maintaining factor that may contribute to the symptom pattern of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Because patients accepting the illness and trying to live with it seem to have a better prognosis than patients chronically fighting it, we investigated breathing behavior during different coping response sets towards the illness in patients with CFS (N=30, CDC criteria). Patients imagined a relaxation script (baseline), a script describing a coping response of hostile resistance, and a script depicting acceptance of the illness and its (future) consequences.