Lack of support: Medical (Post by Kenny)

The following post is the first of several by my husband, Kenny. Thanks for reading! ~Alyson

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Ignorance, it is a pervasive mindset that transcends education, and is found at many different levels when it comes to the topic of CFIDS.

Too many doctors and nurses lack understanding or education of this illness; which adds to the frustration and hopeless feelings of those that suffer from such a formidable disease. This of course is not a problem if this ignorance is due to a new disease; unfortunately, CFIDS is not so new that all doctors and nurses should not be well educated up to the latest research.

Sadly, this lack of knowledge is due to many medical experts incredulity that there is something genetically, chemically, neurologically or a combination of these wrong with the individual. This leaves the person suffering from this life altering disease with feelings of doubt.

Before she found her current doctor, other doctors told my wife for years that she was just depressed (and nothing else), partying too much (she did not drink or party), staying up too late (Alyson slept almost 20 hours a day sometimes), not exercising (when she did work out, she crashed and slept for days), or the worst, “it’s all in your head”. This is unacceptable and should not be tolerated within the medical field.

Doctors and nurses have a moral obligation to be empathetic and educated on rare and common illnesses.

If you are in this field, don’t blame the people or make excuses for questions you can’t answer, instead do research or refer him or her to someone that can help. Please, don’t assume or guess what may be wrong. That is a complete insult to these people’s intelligence.