I believe the symptoms are real, I also believe it is of an emotional/psychological origin.
The 2 women I have known that claim to have FM have also been the “victims” of a lot of unhealed psychological issues, codependency and abusive family/relationship issues.
The mind/body connection is very real, and while I do not believe it is helpful to lay a trip on people that are unwell as to their own part in their illnesses causation, it is, absolutely true that intense stress and emotional issues do lay the groundwork for the manifestation of many illnesses.
Factually speaking the odds of someone coming down with a serious illness within 2 years of a highly stressful life event has been proven.
One cancer researcher said that in many cases of cancer he had studied the patients had experienced an extremely stressful life event in the several years prior to onset. Death, divorce, family illness, job loss, etc.
The body is vulnerable to many things, but, make no mistake about it, unresolved, chronic stress and mental/emotional pain that is not addressed does lend itself to being expressed through illness. I do beleive that FM is a manifestation of these conditions.