"I couldn't get out of bed for eight months - now I'm a burlesque stripper"

[SOC]

Somewhere on Facebook (it might have been the ME Association page) some-one connected to this girl said that she was totally devastated with how the paper had twisted the facts of her story.

So there is more at play here.

Not surprising with the media, and probably to be expected when the UK media and ME are involved. I wonder which facts were twisted, and in what way.

I have a hard time thinking that the major issue here isn't psychological when this young woman feels being orphaned at 2yo and successfully adopted is a reason for life-long trauma. She grew up with two parents, even if they weren't her birth parents. Many, many children grow up under those circumstances and are not traumatized. The young woman I know who lost her father at 2yo has absolutely no memory of him (sadly), but is not traumatized by his death. Continuing to be traumatized by the death of someone who died 26 years ago when you were 2yo is a psychological issue.

I'm happy for her that she dragged herself out of her depression and doldrums by getting herself off the sofa and re-engaging with a hobby (?) she enjoys. Depression is a very real illness and can be hell on earth. It can all too easily lead to suicide, but she managed to find a better path than that for herself. That takes some strength and courage.

The question is, who really attributed her improvement of ME (a diagnosis which is questionable given the little we were told) to burlesque dancing -- this young woman, or the writer? I can see the writer taking two different issues -- ME diagnosis and improving depression through stripping () and creating a connection the interviewee never intended. But I can also see the young woman (having been grossly misinformed by the UK medical system) believing in the connection herself.

I'm curious what brought this particular, and unusual, case to the attention of the writer. Journalists don't typically go door-to-door asking, "Do you have a poorly understood and controversial illness from which you recovered by engaging in a unique hobby? May I write up your story for The Mirror?"

 

[TiredSam]

I have a hard time thinking that the major issue here isn't psychological when this young woman feels being orphaned at 2yo and successfully adopted is a reason for life-long trauma.

Maybe she was convinced by a therapist that the reason for her depression was her adoption or the loss of her parents. It could have just been that she was being bullied and was sensitive. I personally know two cases like this. In the first, a friend of mine went to a therapist after feeling down for a long period and was told he needed to find his real parents. He didn't think that was the cause at all, but the therapist was quite sure about subconscious blah blah so he went along with it and tracked down his real mother, who didn't want to have anything to do with him.

In the other case the parents of a child with PTSD following an accident were told that he kept looking over his shoulder all the time because he was subconsciously (there's that word again) looking for the spirits of his predecessors who had died generations before he was born. This wasn't because of anything the child had said, but was a crackpot theory the therapist had read about recently and was dying to try out.

Maybe this burlesque dancer just wanted a bit of publicity for her dancing and had no idea how she was being manipulated by therapists and journalists.

In the article it says "diagnosed with stress and ME". I was diagnosed with burnout by a doctor within five minutes and before he'd examined me. If his diagnosis had been published in the Daily Mirror it wouldn't have made it any more true.

 

[Mij]

Her story has also been posted in a Belgium paper. Here it mentions depression.stress and bullying and one small :". L'an dernier, elle apprend qu'elle souffre de fatigue chronique invalidante" that lasted nine months. Chronic fatigue.

http://www.7sur7.be/7s7/fr/1522/Soc...irer-mes-vetements-m-a-ramenee-a-la-vie.dhtml

 

[justy]

, "Do you have a poorly understood and controversial illness from which you recovered by engaging in a unique hobby?

YES! I cured myself of severe M.E by Knitting caravan cosy's

But I only ever do it dressed like this:

 

[Mij]

On my better days . . . extreme ironing.

 

[Large Donner]

Wasn't there previously a story that made it into mainstream papers about someone curing themselves of ME by taking up pole dancing or is the the same person?

 

[panckage]

Its settled then. I'm getting 4 anchor bolts and a nice long hard pole to swing on. Anyone care to join? Recovery is near I can feel it!

 

[eafw]

Journalists don't typically go door-to-door asking, "Do you have a poorly understood and controversial illness from which you recovered by engaging in a unique hobby? May I write up your story for The Mirror?"

They sort of do in that they ask in the print and online versions of the paper "do you have a story ..." and there are agency websites where you can find requests for the same sort of thing

Wasn't there previously a story that made it into mainstream papers about someone curing themselves of ME by taking up pole dancing or is the the same person?

The DailyMail had one about a bellydancer a few months back, but wouldn't be suprised if they'd dug out a poledancer from somewhere as well.

 

[SDSue]

Are you OK?

The last time I heard this song was probably 30 years ago, and it took all 30 of those years for this to stop playing relentlessly in my brain.

I’ve just been sentenced to another 30 years of lumberjack follies!!! Thanks Alex!

 

[SOC]

Maybe she was convinced by a therapist that the reason for her depression was her adoption or the loss of her parents.

Indeed! There is little-to-no control of psychotherapy and definitely no attention to adverse outcomes as the result of psychotherapy. Don't get me wrong -- I think there are some excellent clinical psychotherapists who contribute greatly to improving people's lives. The problem is that there's far too much power given to and almost no control of psychotherapists, so there is far, far too much room for them to do harm with no consequence to themselves.

They sort of do in that they ask in the print and online versions of the paper "do you have a story ..." and there are agency websites where you can find requests for the same sort of thing

True enough, but I consider it deliberate attention-seeking on the part of the interviewee rather than a random approach if someone answers that sort of request. If that was the situation in this case, and the woman was just seeking publicity for her burlesque career, it's hard to get all up in arms on her behalf. However, we don't know that she deliberately sought out this journalist. Someone might have sicced the journalist on her and she was too naive to realize what was about to happen.

 

[Snowdrop]

Of course it's possible that the young women's experience was spun. This isn't unique to ME.

I would think (speaking as a parent) that if she's going to pursue doing burlesque then she would educate herself about the media and how they operate even more than the average person. It's also possible that what horrifies her is that she had no idea about others experience of ME and had no idea of what kind of push back she might get from the article. She feels bad about being made to feel bad. Who knows.

Having her burlesque highlighted might also have been at least in a small part some self promoting so made it easy to go along with the flow of what is being asked. The payment (nothings free) for the promotion is the backlash she gets from PWME who have every right to be way more than tired of stories like this one.
We don't know what went on.

I'm sure while she was very ill she was feeling truly awful as she wouldn't know that it was going to end. So her experience was for her a horrific one. As we know here her experience was more like having the flu like regular people from the viewpoint of our timeline.
That she seems unaware of the life long chronic ME condition is unfortunate. It means that the true story of ME is still not out there. SIGH.
The story is one that still deserves mocking IMO.

I'm saving my sympathy for all those who have lost so much to ME and who aren't heard.
The young burlesque dancer will manage. Although let's hope she's managed to absorb the take away message.

And in other news. . .
I had ME and now I'm captain of a starship. You can do it too. Here's how. . . Just send your money order to. . .

 

[Gingergrrl]

Where can I sign up to the becoming Xena program?

@Snow Leopard It's a very elite program but I can send you the info on how to apply... it involves many medication bottles, a wheelchair, and a disabled parking placard for starters and if accepted, you will get the secret location to be fitted for your Xena outfit... that is all I can say for now

 

[Gingergrrl]

t is worth keeping in mind that at least one ME specialist has noted that nearly all who recover, which is a small minority, do so in the first year. From other specialists we hear that most of the remainder who eventually recover do so in the next two years. After five years very few spontaneously recover.

@alex3619 I don't want to derail this wonderful thread (so maybe you could PM me the info when you have time, no hurry of course!) but is there a citation re: ME specialists saying that most recover within three years and rarely ever after five years? I read this a lot on PR and accepted it as fact (and am not saying it is wrong) but am just wondering where the statistic or original quote came from? Thanks for any info... and now back to our regularly scheduled superhero program...

 

[alex3619]

I had ME and now I'm captain of a starship. You can do it too. Here's how. . . Just send your money order to. . .

Your message appears to have broken up. Just how far did it have to be sent?

 

[Snowdrop]

You message appears to have broken up. Just how far did it have to be sent?

lol. It's a long way to the delta quadrant.
. . dilithium crystals need recharging. . .boosting signal. . .
Any other superheroes out there?

 

[Forbin]

I don't know how UK newspapers are connected, but the basic elements of the story appeared, in a less sensational form, back in early February, 2015, in the Hertfordshire Mercury. It featured one of the same photos that was in the Mirror's version of the story.

http://www.hertfordshiremercury.co....es-model-job/story-25985878-detail/story.html

The Mercury story calls ME "a serious condition" and does not as strongly link her pursuits to recovery from ME.

Becky still suffers from the effects of ME, which is also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, but has started to recover.

The Mirror story gives a stronger impression of a connection between her vocation and recovery.

Now, although Becky is not completely cured, her ME only flares up every two or three months – lasting at most for a couple of days.

This line from the Mercury article may be a clue as to how the story is finding its way into the press.

The 28-year-old Rowleys Road resident is now represented by London’s Ugly Models, after taking part in an open audition.

 

[SOC]

lol. It's a long way to the delta quadrant.
. . dilithium crystals need recharging. . .boosting signal. . .
Any other superheroes out there?

I cured my ME by becoming Borg. No more muscle pain, no more GI problems, no more OI, no more lack of energy, and cognitive dysfunction is no longer a problem because I can just tap into the hive mind. There is the whole no more body thing, but hey, if it works....

 

[alkt]

well i am glad we have solved the mystery of our poor health .it is because we are all unknowingly running around being heroes so obviously when we get our bodies back they have suffered from all that activity and leave us in the state we are in. ps it is refreshing to see everyones lighter side because we all need to laugh sometimes.

 

[worldbackwards]

I cured my ME by becoming Borg. No more muscle pain, no more GI problems, no more OI, no more lack of energy, and cognitive dysfunction is no longer a problem because I can just tap into the hive mind. There is the whole no more body thing, but hey, if it works....

Of course, the best way to defeat the old fashioned mind/body dualism is to just remove the body altogether. And what have you got to lose? Apart from the obvious...

 

[Mij]

This line from the Mercury article may be a clue as to how the story is finding its way into the press.

I think this story made it's way into the Belgium press because of the . . . umm . . . tantalizing photos?

I don't think they would have printed a story about a depressed/fatigued/ bullied women becoming a tap dancer.