Visual Representations: ME/CFS/CFIDS/SEID/Etc.

[Effi]

@Asa I had this other idea, but I'm not sure if it fits or if it goes off topic too much... Last week I read something about how in the late 19th century there was a disease somewhat similar to cfs called neurasthenia. (This was seen as a physical illness, until in the beginning of the 20th century psychiatry adopted the term and made it a psychological illness.) It's not clear if 'neurasthenia' was me/cfs or rather general 'chronic fatigue' or even burn-out. Possibly there was an overlap and it probably was a wastebasket diagnosis for any 'unexplained fatigue' (sounds familiar, right?). The images that came with this disease are pretty interesting...

This article explains it more eloquently : http://sciencenordic.com/chronic-fatigue-syndrome-across-time

 

[Strawberry]

I know there have been many MANY times that I have been so sick and exhausted, yet I still had to go to work, that I literally felt my skin would melt off my bones. So maybe this?

Everything else I found looked more horror, but this one I have now decided is me. Or has been. I LOVE the burned match "heads".

 

[Asa]

http://web.archive.org/web/20150821...onic-fatigue-syndrome-some-legitimacy/382617/

 

[ahmo]

The title of the above article from Atlantic magazine:
A Study Gives Mysterious Chronic-Fatigue Syndrome Some Legitimacy

 

[Asa]

https://web.archive.org/web/20151008112250/http://www.landetsfria.se/artikel/119136


"No (Health)Care for Forgotten Patients"

 

[Effi]

Hey look, this guy took his duvet to the doctor's office. And his cup of coffee. AND he's yawning. Check out the doctor's facial expression. This picture was in an article a couple of weeks ago in a Dutch newspaper. Title was something along the lines of: 'Being tired all the time is not just an attitude.' http://www.volkskrant.nl/wetenschap/altijd-moe-zijn-is-geen-aanstellerij~a4149803/

Same article in a Belgian newspaper had this photo:

http://www.demorgen.be/wetenschap/altijd-moe-zijn-is-geen-aanstellerij-a2468912/

 

[Effi]

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/a...gue-patients-push-for-an-elusive-cure/409534/

 

[Asa]

This is a photo of a slide during a presentation by the Committee on Diagnostic Criteria for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome report at the Institute of Medicine in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2015. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

https://web.archive.org/web/2015101...ajor-disease-we-dont-know-anything-about.html

Additional Susan Walsh photographs published with "chronic fatigue syndrome" articles:
https://web.archive.org/web/2015101.../elements/chronic-fatigue-syndrome-iom-report

http://web.archive.org/web/20151019...ges-new-better-diagnosis-chronic-fatigue.html

Susan Walsh is a staff photographer for the Associated Press and president of the White House News Photographers’ Association. She was a member of the Associated Press team who won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for coverage of the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton. In addition to political coverage, Walsh has photographed a half dozen Super Bowls and four Olympic games. She says she truly enjoys the “front-row seat to history” that journalism allows. Walsh and her husband, Capt. John Widmayer, live in Annapolis, Md.

https://web.archive.org/web/20151019062513/http://special.chunshek.com/pulitzer/walsh/

 

[Effi]

I think fellow PR member @ballard deserves a post here. Great ME/CFS-cartoons by him: http://www.cfsgraphics.com/home.html
Sometimes cartoons bring across a message more aptly than any article. I've heard people are using the cartoons across Twitter etc. for advocacy. So a big thank you to you Ballard!
I'll post one here (hope that's ok @ballard ?). The rest you can find on the website.

 

[Helen]

The cover in the first post is a good illustration of an arrogant and insulting picture as the guy on the sofa is considered the most lazy person you can imagine in the cartoons. The picture makes one associate to laziness, at least in Northern Europe.

I think one of the most heartbreaking pictures that have been published recently is a photo of Nobel Prize winner Ron Davies´ son with ME who gets care as he isn´t at all able to take care of himself. I assume it is pretty difficult to dismiss his situation and sick story as it is confirmed by a highly intelligent father with all kind of contacts in medicine.

 

[mango]

ME Association's current cover image on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/ME-Association-171411469583186/?fref=nf

 

[Asa]

Archived original: http://web.archive.org/web/20160304030206/http://blondie.com/comics/february-25-2016/

Original discussed here: http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...negative-stereotype-about-me-cfs.43330/page-2

 

[Asa]

Thanks @Effi for sharing ballard's work and link. I wasn't aware.