Why was ME/CFS once mocked as "yuppie flu", and why did the stigma last?
A disabling illness was dismissed as "yuppie flu" or as mass hysteria, and stigma is still reported by patients today.
Why was ME/CFS mocked, and why did the doubt last? Because for a long time it was an illness with no test and no agreed cause, and labels filled the gap. In the first years after the diagnosis "chronic fatigue syndrome" was introduced, the condition was often mocked in the media, for example as "yuppie flu". Research by the psychiatrist Simon Wessely and his co-workers found that stereotype inaccurate. It also helps to remember that "chronic fatigue" sounds like ordinary tiredness, and most people with ME/CFS object to that name, which they consider simplistic and say trivialises their symptoms.
The story starts earlier. From 1934 onwards there were multiple around the world of an unfamiliar illness, initially mistaken for polio. A 1955 outbreak at the Royal Free Hospital Group in London was later called "Royal Free disease" or "benign myalgic encephalomyelitis". In 1970 the psychiatrists McEvedy and Beard called such epidemic cases , which provoked criticism from outbreak researchers and doctors; critics faulted them for not adequately investigating the patients.
The sources note that people with ME/CFS often face in healthcare settings, and the majority report negative healthcare experiences. In October 2026, the former Olympic sprinter Beth Dobbin wrote to the Prime Minister that ME "has been neglected and psychologicalised for years".
1934
of an unfamiliar illness mistaken for polio
1955
Royal Free Hospital outbreak, later "benign myalgic encephalomyelitis"
1970
Two psychiatrists call such
1988
First working definition of "chronic fatigue syndrome"
2015
US Institute of Medicine calls it a serious systemic disease
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Recap
Doubt about ME/CFS came from missing tests and from labels such as mass hysteria and "yuppie flu".
💡 A trick to remember it · When an illness has no test, a label can fill the gap: a mocking nickname travels faster than the evidence that would correct it.
Surprising fact · "Yuppie flu" was a mocking media label, which researchers including Simon Wessely later called an inaccurate stereotype.
Sources (4)
No source, no claim. Every fact in this lesson (15 claims) cites at least one of these.