What M.E. is (and what it is NOT)

Most introductions, to patient organisations and in textbooks, begin with, "What is M.E.?"

In the same tradition, we aspire to provide the most comprehensive, global, history of this debilitating illness, here and by links to other M.E. sites.

This is recommended background reading for all M.E. sufferers, carers, doctors, researchers and lay people with enquiring minds, whether they come to it as veterans, newly-diagnosed, having had it thrust upon them as carer, researcher or intelligently curious.

But beyond an orderly, chronological, account, we shall advocate dispelling myths and advance hypotheses that we believe will help us make progress in research and understanding M.E., suggesting treatments towards cure.

One hypothesis we propose, following the discredited theory of mass hysteria by psychiatrists McEvedy & Beard, is that there is no evidence to demonstrate that people with M.E. are any more likely to have a predisposition to, or history of, psychiatric illness than the general population (They may additionally have concomitant psychological problems or a psychiatric illness but the one is not a prerequisite for the other) and the search for a solution to M.E. is a physiological one and not in the province of psychiatry, which is impeding progress.

Another of our hypotheses asserts that M.E. is a distinct illness and should not be used interchangeably or synonymously with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), that it is of, as yet, unknown physiological cause, with sufferers varying along a continuum of severity. Amongst their symptoms is an experience quantitatively and qualitatively different from mere tiredness or fatigue, which deserves to be named and considered differently from CFS, which is also hampering research progress.

Our modern history of M.E. will take as its starting point the Royal Free outbreak of 1955 and work forward to the present day but we shall also dig deeper into the past for anything that looks as though it may help our quest or, sometimes, just for curiosity - Did Florence Nightingale have M.E.?

Since this is an illness that knows no geographical boundaries, we welcome contributions and website links from countries all over the world, telling us about their parallel experiences.

More information and ways to contribute.

• Related News (search)
• Related letters in the Press. (search)
• Read and/or contribute to the discussions.
• Read and/or contribute in the Forum.