Review : The effects on siblings in families with a child with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Abstract

■ Paediatric CFS/ME is a stressor, which affects not only the sufferer but also the whole family. ■ The sibling bond exerts a great influence on all the children in the family. ■ Healthy siblings are often overlooked as attention is focused on the child with CFS/ME or other chronic illness. ■ Individual children react in different ways to serious illness in another sibling by adopting a variety of coping mechanisms. ■ There is a need for health and education professionals to consider the whole family when caring for and working with a child with CFS/ME.