Meanings of ME : interpersonal and social dimensions of chronic fatigue

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS or ME) is a problematic diagnosis which can be interpreted in conflicting ways by doctors, patients and others. Meanings of ME signals a paradigm shift in thinking about the illness by providing fresh perspectives from doctors, clinicians and those who have personal knowledge of CFS/ME. Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS or ME) is a problematic diagnosis, and much of the existing writing on the topic is dominated by questions of biology, psychology and causation. The focus on personal, interpersonal and public meanings in Meanings of ME signals a paradigm shift in thinking about CFS/ME. Contributions from clinicians and academics as well as from those who have personal knowledge of CFS/ME highlight the varied experiences of the illness. Rather than insisting on a specific theory of the illness, the authors provide fresh perspectives on the sometimes conflicting ways in which the diagnosis and symptoms of CFS/ME are interpreted by doctors, patients and others. The book's early chapters survey four different ways in which CFS/ME can be presented: as lived experience, as a scientific phenomenon, as a medical diagnostic classification, and as a product of culture. The personal, interpersonal and public meanings of CFS/ME are then discussed before an exploration of stigma and identity from both personal and professional standpoints Front Matter....Pages i-xi Introduction....Pages 1-12 Front Matter....Pages 13-13 Personally Speaking: Chronic Fatigue from the Inside....Pages 15-25 Scientifically Speaking: CFS/ME in the Medical Literature....Pages 26-33 Diagnostically Speaking: How should CFS/ME Be Classified — and Does it Matter?....Pages 34-44 Historically Speaking: Three Influences on the Way we Think about CFS/ME....Pages 45-63 Front Matter....Pages 65-65 Symptoms into Words: How Medical Patients Talk about Fatigue....Pages 67-85 Meanings of CFS/ME in the Lives of Couples....Pages 86-105 The Self and Others in CFS/ME: Reinterpreting Research Evidence....Pages 106-128 The Public Meanings of CFS/ME: Making Up People....Pages 129-149 Front Matter....Pages 151-151 The Challenge of CFS/ME in Primary Care....Pages 153-164 The Said and the Unsaid: Ambivalence in CFS/ME....Pages 165-176 Stigma, Unspeakable Dilemmas, and Somatic Symptoms — a Legacy of Suffering in CFS/ME and Fibromyalgia....Pages 177-197 What Does the Diagnosis Say?....Pages 198-212 Ways of Not Knowing....Pages 213-225 Back Matter....Pages 226-231 "Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS or ME) is a problematic diagnosis, and much of the existing writing on the topic is dominated by questions of biology, psychology and causation. The focus on personal, interpersonal and public meanings in Meanings of ME signals a paradigm shift in thinking about CFS/ME. Contributions from clinicians and academics as well as from those who have personal knowledge of CFS/ME highlight the varied experiences of the illness. Rather than insisting on a specific theory of the illness, the authors provide fresh perspectives on the sometimes conflicting ways in which the diagnosis and symptoms of CFS/ME are interpreted by doctors, patients and others. The book's early chapters survey four different ways in which CFS/ME can be presented: as lived experience, as a scientific phenomenon, as a medical diagnostic classification, and as a product of culture. The personal, interpersonal and public meanings of CFS/ME are then discussed before an exploration of stigma and identity from both personal and professional standpoints"-- Provided by publisher