Supporting-This ME/CFS Awareness Month
An untreatable, incurable, tortuous disease has the power to do one thing, aside from all of the suffering. It has the ability to render each and every one of us helpless, no discrimination here. ME/CFS is not prejudiced.
The sufferer helpless in the ravages of it’s power. The loved ones, friends and family, left feeling helpless-longing to help but often it seems only so much can be done. It is cruel and unfair.
Today I’m offering you ways you can have power to support the person you care about with ME/CFS: both during M.E Awareness Week and as an ongoing advocate. These are ways in which you can actively aid a movement to better awareness and understanding of the illness the person you know suffers and with such, create better funding opportunities for research which can help.
Let’s take back the power. Thank you in advance.
Give us a ‘like’
🔹Like posts ♥️
I know they’re not always the type of things you want to ‘like’, heck I don’t always ‘like’ the nature of them either but they are the truth and they’re a truth we face daily. Trust me, if anyone is bored by my illness and its constant moaning at me, it is me, I get it…but we need help and we can only get this help if the true devastating nature of the illness is understood and no longer stigmatised.
Liking posts helps show your support and reminds us we’re not alone. It also helps others see the posts on the various social media platforms as they become more popular & Instagram for e.g. share them-and that awareness is desperately needed.
Here’s my latest insta post!
Pass it on
🔹Share a blog post.
There are so many incredible posts written to help raise awareness of the true nature of ME/CFS. Reading them is excellent. Not only is the hard work (very hard work when you’re poorly!) that the person has gone to in writing it, telling their story or their call to arms, validated with each and every read but by sharing a post one more person may learn something new. That’s pretty powerful.
You’d be amazed how one tiny action can make a difference.
Here’s a few:
Meeting my illness Pt 1, Meeting my illness Pt 2, Jo Moss’s, excellent short ME Awareness video, What it feels like when I crash, 8 Common myths about ME debunked, Emma’s post: What people say it feels like living with ME.
Jo’s blog is A Journey Through The Fog
Emma’s blog is Not Just Tired
My blog: Amy’s Chapter
Talk about ME
🔹Talk about the true nature of the illness with someone you know. An acquaintance, a colleague. Correct them politely ( 😉 ) if they believe the stigma falsely attached to ME/CFS. Direct them to my instagram account @myillnessmythoughts where I share all the latest biomedical studies into the disease and share the movie Unrest, a powerful and very truthful, factual film which will open their eyes.
Informative websites: ME Association & ME Action
What is ME/CFS? Here’s a link.
Watch some telly
🔹Watch Unrest movie.
Take an hour out of your life and watch this movie based on those living with ME/CFS. Maybe you’ll watch it for someone you care about, perhaps you’ll watch it out of intrigue, maybe you’ll do so because it’s an award winning, Oscar nominated movie: whatever the reason, it’ll be an hour well spent.
It’s available on Netflix here and you can learn more about it here.
Donate
🔹If you can, please donate to one of the incredible charities both supporting people with M.E and/or funding biomedical research of the illness.
Reach out
🔹Possibly one of the most simple ones on the list. Reach out to the person you know with ME/CFS. Doing so knowing that they may simply be too poorly to reply but that your action might have helped them get through a difficult day. Whether it’s a text, a card or simply sending a funny meme; trust me hearing from you will make their world.
And so
As you can see, liking a post, reading one and watching a movie-they’re not difficult things to do and yet they can have powerful actions. We all have this power at our fingertips.
Incredible feats can be and have been achieved when people come together and support one another. Once you understand the vilification of this disease you will stand for this mistreatment no longer. I hope this has been useful to know that support can be offered in such simple ways and will not go unnoticed.

Thanks for taking the time to read and for any and all the support you offer.

in support and solitary,
Great to ha e some concrete ways to show support
Thanks!
Great post. Nice pictures too.
Thank you!
Wonderful ideas on how to help ME, sufferers! I definitely think it needs to have more awareness around it as so many don’t know about it or have very little understanding. I am not personally a suffer but know a few who are, and it certainly is very misunderstood.
Thank you for sharing.
– Nyxie
https://www.nyxiesnook.com/an-open-letter-to-mental-illness/
Yes I agree, spreading the word is so important so that we all understand the gravity of the illness. I’m sorry for those you know who suffer! Thanks so much for your comment, Amy.
What an easy and quick way to raise awareness and show support! That is why social media is so important in raising awareness
Isn’t it! Social media has made it so much easier to get the word out to people, it’s great! Thanks for taking the time to read the post and i’m glad you found it helpful!
Thank you for bringing awareness to this and sharing this post. I will add the movie on my list of things to watch.
You’re welcome! And thank you for taking the time to read this post and for watching Unrest when you do. It really is an exceptional movie!
Terrific post, Amy! I admit to knowing next to nothing about ME/CFS before visiting your blog. This post along with many others on your blog has opened my eyes to something new. I have added the documentary, Unrest, to my Netflix watch list and look forward to watching it. Thank you, as always, for sharing your experience.
Roger
Thanks Roger I really appreciate that and I’m glad that you’ve found my posts helpful! Thank you for adding Unrest to your Netflix list, it is an incredible film and a very important one too.
Amy