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A Beginner's Guide to ME/CFS
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==Publisher's synopsis== ''(This synopsis was provided by the publisher for promotional purposes. For book reviews, please see Links section below.)'' Now confirmed by the prestigious [[United States|US]] [[National Academy of Medicine|Institute of Medicine]], [[ME/CFS]] is a serious, debilitating illness, not 'all in your head', not 'somatoform' (the psychiatrists' term for 'all in your head'), not 'functional' (the neurologists' term for 'all in your head'). The [[Institute of Medicine report|IOM Report]] ('[[ME/CFS|Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome]] - Redefining an Illness') states that this illness 1) is not psychiatric 2) is a disease 3) in which '[[exertion]] of any kind, physical, cognitive or emotional, can adversely affect many organ systems in the body'. The name they suggest, '[[Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disease]]' (SEID) is intended to reflect the serious nature of the illness, which can, in its most severe form, cause the patient to become wheelchair or bedbound, suffering a multitude of symptoms, including intractable pain, for months or years.The phrase 'exertion intolerance' has the medical meaning, as stated above...exertion can cause wide-ranging physical harm. [[Cognitive behavioral therapy|Cognitive Behaviour Therapy]] (CBT) and [[Graded exercise therapy|Graded Exercise Therapy]] (GET) have been recommended as treatments, by psychiatrists, on the grounds that thinking we have a medical disease is a 'false belief', and that the idea that [[exercise]] will make us worse is also a 'false belief'.Now it seems that it's the psychiatrists who have the false beliefs. No one is criticized for avoiding what makes them ill - if you have a nut [[allergy]], you avoid nuts.If you have [[diabetes]], you avoid sugar. We are bombarded with advice about avoiding things that cause cancer.Now we know that if we have ME/CFS, we absolutely must avoid exertion. [[Melvin Ramsay|Ramsay's]] insistence on rest as the first, most urgent treatment recommendation, is now seen to be justified. No longer radical, the advice in 'A Beginner's Guide to ME/CFS' offers encouragement, practical suggestions, and much praise for carers,whose help is essential to keep you on the path towards improvement.
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