Fatigatio e.V.

The Fatigatio is a German patient organization. It was founded in 1993 and is located in Berlin.

Controversy

 * When an alliance of all German patient groups protested the guideline "tiredness" (which includes a chapter on ME/CFS and recommends GET and CBT) in 2011, Fatigatio publicly quit the alliance and opposed its criticism of the guideline.
 * During the latest revision process of the guideline "tiredness" in 2018, the then Fatigatio chairwoman wrote to the guideline commission (see page 94 in the linked guideline report), claiming, among other things, that ME/CFS was rare, bedridden patients should be activated and made derogatory comments about the "CFS scene". This statement was published in the official guideline report. When members and the patient community criticized it, Fatigatio claimed it was a "private letter" and asked the guideline commission to delete it from the report. Afterwards Fatigatio published a letter by a lawyer on its website to threaten critics with legal action and a letter by a psychiatrist to defend the remark, that bedridden people with ME should be activated.
 * While all other German patient groups cooperated, Fatigatio was the only organization that didn't participate in the German #MillionsMissing protests 2018 and 2019.
 * Fatigatio uses the term "Chronisches Erschöpfungssyndrom" (chronic exhaustion syndrome) in its name "Bundesverband Chronisches Erschöpfungssyndrom CFS/CFIDS/ME" (federal alliance chronic exhaustion syndrome). Patients critizise the use of the trivialising and unofficial term "exhaustion syndrome". Also that the Fatigatio uses the terms CFS and CFS/ME instead of ME or ME/CFS is criticized.
 * Media articles with the Fatigatio mostly focus on tiredness, psychological problems, thinking positive and staying active. In an article, the then chairwoman proposed as solution to sometimes skip ironing clothes.
 * Fatigatio promoted unscientific theories and invited proponents of the biopsychosocial model to speak at its conferences (e.g. about childhood trauma) or write for the member magazine. Fatigatio also promoted pseudoscientific programs like Gupta (it was forbidden to critizise Gupta in the member forum).

Events
Fatigatio organizes a yearly conference.

Interviews and articles

 * "Mit chronischer Erschöpfung leben"
 * "Wenn Schlaf keine Erholung bringt"
 * "Chronisches Erschöpfungssyndrom: Wenn man immer müde ist"

Online presence

 * Website
 * Facebook
 * Twitter
 * YouTube