Because doctors believe it's all about deconditioning Almost nobody, except a tabloid headline-writer, says ME is “all in the mind” these days. So why is there still such a stigma attached to ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome? In my experience, the stigma gets worse the more severely affected with ME you are. Now that my illness presents in a moderate form, the treatment I get from the medical profession is mostly benign neglect. When I was very severely affected it was a different story: I experienced outright hostility, open disbelief, accusations of hysteria, attention seeking, malingering and manipulation. I was very, very ill and yet my poor parents were shunned by doctors and left to care for me alone. While doctors rarely say ME is all in the mind, many of them believe something close to that.The most influential group of researchers into ME/CFS in the UK have established a received wisdom on this complex and poorly understood illness. They work on the premise
Research consultant: disability, employment and health. Founder of Chronic Illness Inclusion and thought leader on energy limiting conditions. Living with ME/cfs since 1988.