ME/CFS Humor – Sometimes It Helps

05/15/2012

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© 2012 NBC
Over the years I’ve been able to develop a thick skin when it comes to hurtful comments from others about my struggle with ME/CFS.  Dismissiveness or even subtle innuendoes suggesting that my illness was a mental health problem are a reality and I’ve come to deal with them as part of the package of ME/CFS.  But recently, someone whom I thought ‘got it’, belittled my illness with a wave of her hand referring to it as a brief bout with severe depression so just get over it.  REALLY!?!

I’ve now got Seth and Amy of SNL zinging their Weekend Update one liners across the video of my mind.  Saying that ME/CFS sufferers are only severely depressed is like saying that ulcers can be cured by thinking pretty thoughts.  REALLY!?!  If ME/CFS patients are mental health cases then Aids is a lifestyle choice.  REALLY!?!  If you think that Prozac is the cure for ME/CFS, then I’ve got a bottle of snake oil that will cure your condescending attitude.  REALLY!?!

Sometimes humor is the best medicine.  How do you use it?  Please COMMENT or Send in your thoughts and I’ll post them.  You can use the Contact Form or send an email to Martha at DefeatCFS dot net.

Look for a weekly posting on Tuesdays.  And consider being part of the conversation.

Be Well Again,

Martha
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Attitude – What Others Say

10/04/2011

4 Comments

 
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© 2011 TSM
When you’re struggling with ME/CFS, it can be a daily challenge to keep your own negative attitudes in check.  It’s all too easy to fall into the trap of wasting precious energy grinding about the things you can’t do, the thoughts you can’t keep straight and the important people in your life for whom you can’t be present.

 It becomes even more challenging when you have to deal with the negative attitudes and insensitive comments of others.  One group says ‘you look OK to me’.  Then there are the ‘doubters’ who look at you as if you’re either physically lazy or mentally weak.  And then you face the curious crowd who seem interested in your illness only to the extent that they want to tell you about themselves or their sick friend.  It’s hard to know what to say without being irritated (only to confirm their assessment of your mental weakness) or rude which can alienate people whom you otherwise value in your life.

Fortunately for most, there are the steadfast family members or friends who get it and want to support your path back to health in whatever way they can.  And even these caring people can say the most insensitive things at times.  When I heard these comments, I donned my writer’s thick skin which I acquired as the result of many tough critiques.

What do you say when people make insensitive comments?  Do you react at all?  Please COMMENT or Send in your thoughts and I’ll post them.  You can use the Contact Form or send an email to Martha at DefeatCFS dot net.

Look for a weekly posting on Tuesdays.  And consider being part of the conversation.

Be Well Again,

Martha
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Recovery Opinions – Some More Hopeful Than Others

09/20/2011

3 Comments

 
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© 2011 TSM
Last weeks blog triggered e-mails from patients who were firmly in either the ‘can’ or ‘can’t’ recover camps.  As one might guess, most of the opinions seemed to be related to whether or not each had been able to recover.  Laura Hillenbrand was mentioned frequently by the ‘can’t’ camp.  Here’s a link to her article about her illness.  http://www.cfids-cab.org/MESA/Hillenbrand.html   Leigh Hatcher was a favorite of the ‘can’ camp.  Here’s a link to his website.  http://www.notcrazy.net/

And then there was the rest, fence sitters who were hopeful and wanted recovery to be possible. 

For me, I keep coming back to what I feel is so unfair about this ME/CFS diagnosis.  The fact the even though thousands of patients get this label, they actually don’t all have the same disease.  So using the same protocol and approach, two patients can have completely different outcomes.  Or one has great success and the other minimal improvement.  Yes, I believe that ME/CFS patients can recover.  Can they all recover using the same treatment?  No.  Can they recover using the same strategies?  Call me crazy but my answer is yes.

My training as a health professional drilled into me two things:  first, despite all the marvelous progress that medicine had made over the last century, we still only know and understand a small portion of the intricacies of the human body.  Second, the way that we learn things is to collect data, hypothesize, test, evaluate and then collect more data, etc.

My next blog will focus on personal data collection (yes, I keep harping on this) and successful strategies.  Have you developed any strategies that work for you?  Please COMMENT or Send in your thoughts and I’ll post them.  You can use the Contact Form or send an email to Martha at DefeatCFS dot net.

Look for a weekly posting on Tuesdays.  And consider being part of the conversation.

Be Well Again,

Martha
3 Comments