Lilianna Mint – Young Women with POTS
Can you share a little about the onset and how you came to get a diagnosis? I started noticing symptoms in my final year at school while studying for A-levels. … Read More
Supporting Clients Through Medical Gaslighting
Supporting Clients Through Medical Gaslighting Since the post-pandemic explosion in post-viral and related diseases, the burden of this crisis has expanded far beyond patients and their immediate family members, many … Read More
Insights into text-based therapy
It’s Severe ME Awareness Week now, in early August, and sharing this article seems particularly relevant. People who are most severely affected may find it hardest of all to access … Read More
“Brain Retraining” Merry-Go-Round
In July 2026 the UKs ‘i newspaper’ published an article about a still-to-be-peer-reviewed study of 75 people who claim to be ‘recovered’ from post-viral type conditions. Several organisations and patients … Read More
Lena – on how hope changes
Lena is in her early forties and has experienced chronic ill health since she was 15. She shares her thoughts with us about the usefulness and sometimes also the difficulties … Read More
Christine Sweeney – Grieving The Life Unlived
Setting up a ‘Grieving the Life Unlived’ meeting Christine Sweeney created a ‘Grieving the Life Unlived’ meetup for (and with) members of Cambridge ME Group (UK). She shares her inspiration … Read More
Hope v Acceptance in Chronic Illness – Kirsty
Kirsty lives in the UK and has had ME for 30 years or so. She writes about ‘hope’ – whether it helps, how it can be misused, and what ‘real’ … Read More
Empty Classes? NHS Training on MECFS
A recent request under the UK’s Freedom of Information Act has exposed an extremely low take up by doctors and other health care workers of free NHS training on ME/CFS. … Read More
Keeping Hope Alive – Dan Wyke
People with difficult to diagnose and ‘psychologised’ illnesses such as ME/CFS understandably struggle to keep their hope (of recovery, of quality research, of support) alive. It’s particularly hard to do … Read More
Emma Hampson – Letter to the Editor
Emma Hampson is a former therapist and a person with Severe M.E. who has had to retire due to ill health. She’s written a letter to the Editor of Therapy … Read More
‘Brigitte’ Special Edition – MECFS
Brigitte, a widely read mainstream magazine with a large circulation in German-speaking countries, has just published a special edition about ME/CFS. It’s great! The researchers and journalists have interviewed doctors, … Read More
Bita Nezamdoust: marginalization and neglect in Severe ME
What motivated you to get involved in this work? This was a project born very much organically… I was on Twitter one night reading some emotionally moving Tweets by people … Read More
Natalie Hilliard Physiotherapist (Part 1)
Tell us a little about your professional background… how did you become interested in this area of work as a Physiotherapist? I am chartered Physiotherapist, qualified in 2005, and have … Read More
Creativity and Chronic Illness
Art, and creativity in general, is something that brings meaning to the lives of many people. It can be hard to take part in or get access to when you’re … Read More
British Psychological Society MECFS Guidelines Update
The M.E. Association and Action for M.E. have published updates on work by a group of psychologists who are creating new guidelines on M.E. for the British Psychological Society. The … Read More
Seasonal Gift Suggestions
Seasonal Gifts from chronically ill creatives Not sure where to buy online this holiday season? We have ideas and suggestions that support chronically ill creatives, and often fundraise for medical … Read More
Personal Wish List for Psychological Research
The German Government recently announced a ‘Decade against Post-Infectious Disease’ and committed half a billion Euros of research funding. A huge boost for research into ME/CFS and Long Covid – … Read More
#5 – Elsewhere on the web October 2025
Articles and useful links from around the web during October 2025. From a critical look at Gabor Mate’s work through to some morale-boosting celebrations via pacing tips and much more. … Read More
#4 – Elsewhere on the web Aug/Sept 2025
Articles and useful links from around the web during August and September 2025. Covering Gulf War Illness, Functional Neurological Disorder, Lyme Disease and more… Gulf War Illness – solid science … Read More
Open Letter to BACP magazine, Therapy Today
A recent article in the magazine for members of the British Association of Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP) has highlighted again the need for research, factual investigation and informed debate about … Read More
Misdiagnosis in patients with Hypermobility/EDS
Recent research by Chanbin Lee and Pradeep Chopra from the USA shows a shocking misdiagnosis rate for people who have Ehler’s-Danlos Syndrome and related Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders (known as hEDS). … Read More
Resources for Carers (M.E.)
Chronically ill people often rely on carers for support with daily life – from a prepared meal now and again, through to full-time support with washing, appointments and advocacy. Those … Read More
A married couple talks about the impact of M.E.
Can you share a little background about how you met and how M.E. started to impact your lives? Michelle When Ian and I got together, we travelled a lot, including … Read More
From Scepticism to Understanding – the hard way…
An anonymous person with M.E. explains her journey from sceptic to ‘really getting it’. She shares how she found community online, and how she approached therapy. She takes us through … Read More
#3 – Elsewhere on the web June/July 2025
Round up of articles spotted online in June and July 2025 that focus on the experiences of people with ‘psychologised’ or hard to diagnose health conditions. Helen Goss’ Long Covid … Read More
Creating a Statement of Principles: get involved and comment!
Working with people who have a long term health condition When working with people who have suffered long waits for diagnosis, gaslighting and other forms of misunderstanding it’s important that … Read More
Katharine Cheston: exploring stigma, shame and illness
Thanks very much for writing in to the British Medical Journal (BMJ) when they published an article arguing that beliefs about MECFS substantially shape the course of the illness and … Read More
Nurses create Long Covid guide
Nursing Times published an update of work being undertaken in the UK to create a practical guide for nurses on how to support people with Long Covid. It includes a … Read More
#2 – Elsewhere on the web May 2025
Round up of articles spotted online in May 2025 that focus on the experiences of people with ‘psychologised’ or hard to diagnose health conditions. Keith Geraghty on O’Sullivan Writing in … Read More
Hope against ‘Hopium’…
The BMJ (British Medical Journal) commissioned an article by a small group of authors who rehashed the ‘dysregulation’ argument and many other classic talking points of what has become known … Read More
Past experiences of therapy
In this post we hear from two people, Taylor* and J.E. Barnard, who have searched for support from therapists as they faced chronic ill health and the consequent impact on … Read More
Therapist Perspective: Dan Wyke
What prompted your interest in counselling or therapy with people who have long-term health conditions? Before I became a counsellor I worked for Age UK where I regularly came into … Read More
#1 – Elsewhere on the web Mar/Apr ’25
Round up of articles spotted online in March/April 2025 that focus on the experiences of people with ‘psychologised’ or hard to diagnose health conditions. For Some Women With Serious Physical … Read More
Lyme Disease guide for therapists
Lyme Disease is caused by tick bites, sometimes so small that their significance is not realised at the time by patients or medical staff. Patients face denial and doubt of … Read More
The Ripple Effects of Stigma
This post looks at the effects of ‘psychologisation’ and stigma – in particular as it relates to M.E. (or ME/CFS or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). The effects are far-reaching and have … Read More
Harm caused by incorrect ‘psychosomatic’ diagnoses
Research published this week outlines and investigates the harm caused to patients by vague ‘psychosomatic’ diagnoses and failure to investigate serious symptoms. The research was funded by LUPUS UK and … Read More
Why a directory for therapists working with chronically ill clients?
Many people with long term health conditions require and deserve support with specific problems such as grieving for lost (or drastically affected) life plans and adjusting to being ill. As … Read More
The Tangled Story of ME/CFS – videos
This video series, part of a project led by Natalie Boulton, working with cameraman and editor Josh Biggs, is one of the best educational tools for understanding the illness of … Read More
NICE and M.E.
For decades patients with Myalgic encephalomyelitis (also known as M.E. or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, often abbreviated to M.E. or ME/CFS) have experienced disbelief and stigma when accessing medical support as … Read More
