ME article in Melbourne newspaper Jan 2012

[Allyson]

Dear all,

Please click on and share this short article in The (Melbourne) Age - a major Australian newspaper.

(The Age counts the clicks to record interest in any topic so sharing widely may get ME more attention in future.)

http://www.dailylife.com.au/life-and-love/real-life/when-tiredness-stops-your-life-20130108-2ce8h.html

 

[heapsreal]

also in the me/cfs society south australia too, they seem to be up to date with the latest news articles etc.
good find Ally

 

[Allyson]

THanks Heaps,
yes good to see a bit of publicity finally.
I saw it on the new ME/cfs Australia fb page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/MECFSVicTasNT?fref=ts

 

[k-AUS]

Hi guys,

Being a Melbournian, I have to say that I was happy to see that The Age had included this article. Yes...great publicity. However, when I finished reading the article, I felt quite negative as I felt that it focused too much on the "fatigue" element and how that impacted on life. There was no mention of the millions of other issues we all have to deal with i.e.. POTS, OI, IBS, cystitis, seizures, lowered immunity and the list goes on........

Also what else stood out for me was that they stated the "possible causes" as being:

"hormonal factors, viral infection and general life stressors ".

and that

"four out of five people afflicted with CFS are women".

I guess I just feel that ones friends and families as well as the public, will still think that ME/CFS is where hormonal and stressed out women get a virus and then get too tired to do their normal daily duties.....(then ten years later, get over it).

IMO the article neglected to highlight the seriousness of ME/CFS and the fact that many people never recover from it.

 

[heapsreal]

Hi guys,

Being a Melbournian, I have to say that I was happy to see that The Age had included this article. Yes...great publicity. However, when I finished reading the article, I felt quite negative as I felt that it focused too much on the "fatigue" element and how that impacted on life. There was no mention of the millions of other issues we all have to deal with i.e.. POTS, OI, IBS, cystitis, seizures, lowered immunity and the list goes on........

Also what else stood out for me was that they stated the "possible causes" as being:

"hormonal factors, viral infection and general life stressors ".

and that

"four out of five people afflicted with CFS are women".

I guess I just feel that ones friends and families as well as the public, will still think that ME/CFS is where hormonal and stressed out women get a virus and then get too tired to do their normal daily duties.....(then ten years later, get over it).

IMO the article neglected to highlight the seriousness of ME/CFS and the fact that many people never recover from it.

Atleast it didnt say it was a form of depression and the treatment for it is cbt/get??

 

[Enid]

Appalled to see estimated 90,000 there Allyson, but well done to this newspaper.

 

[Allyson]

Appalled to see estimated 90,000 there Allyson, but well done to this newspaper.

Hi Enid,

I think that number is erroneous and there are closer to 200,000 of us here - diagnosed that is; I am never sure where the stats come form this kind of article, or indeed , at all - do we have a national register.

I imagine ME/cfs Australia bases its count on membership numbers.

 

[Allyson]

Atleast it didnt say it was a form of depression and the treatment for it is cbt/get??

yes, true Heaps, or advise slow walking as the best form of easy cheap exerciseas some placs do - slow walking is the worst thing you can do for OI/POTS/ EDS as you are upright for a long time with relatively little muscle movement to pump blood up to the heart/lungs/brain - hello crash!.

 

[Allyson]

Hi guys,

Being a Melbournian, I have to say that I was happy to see that The Age had included this article. Yes...great publicity. However, when I finished reading the article, I felt quite negative as I felt that it focused too much on the "fatigue" element and how that impacted on life. There was no mention of the millions of other issues we all have to deal with i.e.. POTS, OI, IBS, cystitis, seizures, lowered immunity and the list goes on........

......
IMO the article neglected to highlight the seriousness of ME/CFS and the fact that many people never recover from it.

Hi K aus ,

Great point; how would you feel about shooting that text off in an email to the Age - they may publish it as a letter as it is well said and very true. Can only provoke further debate and awareness too.

All the best,
Ally