What happens to people who have an illness that is not fully accepted by the medical community, a disease for which no positive diagnostic tools exist, and for which no successful protocols for treatment exist? This describes an illness known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) in the U.S. and myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.) in Western Europe and Australia. According to the summary of findings from the 2004 Annual Research and Clinical Conference of the American Association of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, an estimated 800,000 people in the U.S. may have CFS/ME. Researchers estimate that only 10-17% of CFS/ME cases have been properly diagnosed (Lapp 2005). Studies by the Center for Disease Control estimate that the prevalence of CFS may range from 75 to 265 persons per 100,000 population (2005). Actual numbers are difficult to ascertain because many medical practitioners do not “believe in” CFS/M.E. and attribute their patient’s symptoms to depression, psychiatric problems, or malingering (Health Source 2002; Beaulieu 2000).
CFS/ME is characterized by multiple symptoms such as severe exhaustion, cognitive difficulties, muscle and joint pain, migraine or other debilitating headaches as well as a host of other symptoms (www.cdc.gov; Ware 1992; Richman Jason, Taylor, and Jahn 2000). CFS/ME first gained attention in the mid-1980s when a mysterious illness that seemed to be striking young professionals was labeled “the yuppie flu” (Palca 1991). Physicians were unable to explain the cause of the illness and many dismissed it as psychosomatic problems (Palca 1991, Richman, Jason, Taylor, and Jahn 2000). However, physical symptoms such as swollen glands, severe headaches, cognitive problems, and balance problems convinced some...
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Palca, Joseph. 1991. “On the Track of an Elusive Disease.” Science: 254 pp. 1726-1728.
Richman, Judith A., Leonard A. Jason, Renee R. Taylor, and Susan C. Jahn. 2000. “Feminist Perspectives on the Social Construction of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Health Care for Women International: 21, pp. 173-185.
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Being diagnosed with a chronic illness is a life-altering event. During this time, life is not only difficult for the patient, but also for their loved ones. Families must learn to cope together and to work out the best options for the patient and the rest of the family. Although it may not be fair at times, things may need to be centered on or around the patient no matter what the circumstance. (Abbott, 2003) Sacrifices may have to be made during difficult times. Many factors are involved when dealing with chronic illnesses. Coping with chronic illnesses alter many different emotions for the patients and the loved ones. Many changes occur that are very different and difficult to get used to. (Abbott, 2003) It is not easy for someone to sympathize with you when they haven’t been in the situation themselves. No matter how many books they read or people they talk to, they cannot come close to understanding.
Throughout history, women have always aimed for a recognized place in society. Centuries ago, people looked at the role of women in society as being sociologically inferior. Seeing the revival of the Feminist movement, which boldly opposes the stereotypical characteristics of women in society, on one hand, and promotes the elevation of women's status in society, on the other, one would not find it hard to believe the drastic differences in opinion of people on this issue. What is amazing is how these differences reflect upon scholarly works in science.
Shaw, Susan M., and Janet Lee. Women's voices, feminist visions: classic and contemporary readings. 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print.
An analysis of the psychological constructs of the various stages of health in Fatima's life, a single mother and 50-hour weeks worker that developed hypertension. Using the Psychology of Health and Illness as the main point, comparing the biomedical model and health psychology. Even though according to Ogden (ano) a biomedical model regards, Fatima illness is beyond her control and she is only a victim of some external force that invades the body and caused physical change or is originated as an internal physical change. (Ogden, ano, p.5). Fatima health and illness is a psychological construction of her habits and behaviors also of her social environment.
What symptoms classify a person to be diagnosed as sick? A cough, a sore throat, or maybe a fever. Often times when individuals refer to the word ‘sick’, they neglect to mention a common disorder, one which takes a tremendous amount of personal determination, courage and strength in order to overcome. Mental illness took the author, Joanne Greenberg, down a path complete with obstacles, forcing her to battle against schizophrenia, a chronic brain disorder resulting in delusions, hallucinations, trouble with thinking and concentration as well as a lack of motivation. This complex piece of literature was originally composed to fight against the prejudice accusations associated with mental illness, while providing the semi-autobiographical novelist
The Open University (2010) K101 An introduction to health and social care, Unit 2, ‘Illness, Health and Care’, Milton Keynes, The Open University.
Imagine waking up every morning stiff, all your muscles in your body soar, extremely tired and on the verge of exhaustion. The simple task of taking a shower and getting dressed makes you need to lay down for just a few minutes and rest. Your legs ache from a short walk up the stairs last night on your way to bed, as if you ran a marathon in your sleep, and your skin literally hurts to the touch of your clothes as they rub against you. Your blood pressure is up and you can feel the pain emanating from every part of your body. You can’t, for the life of you, find your keys as they hang from the keychain in your hand, because the pain and agitation you are feeling all over has clouded your mind. You are finding it difficult to even concentrate. Never mind the rest of the day ahead of you, that has not even started yet. Now imagine this every day, all day. It almost seems impossible to fathom something of this nature on a daily basis, but that is exactly what most people with fibromyalgia describe as a daily feeling. Some are much worse than that. Fibromyalgia is real, it is pain, and it does exist. Although fibromyalgia awareness has progressed thru advertising there is much more that can, and needs to be done to bring this to the forefront of the medical field and other organizations as a real diagnosis. More research and Government funding is direly needed and demands significant action from our National health agencies and United States Government in the form of grants, research, trials and various drug interaction and testing.
Fibromyalgia is one of the most expensive chronic diseases in terms of healthcare utilization costs in part due to the severity of the functional limitations experienced by fibromyalgia patients. The clinical symptoms of fibromyalgia are complex and are accompanied by sleep disturbances, mood disorders, chronic fatigue, reduced exercise tolerance and pain exacerbations which severely limit a patient’s activities of daily living (Friedberg et al., 2012). As a result, fibromyalgia patients often adopt sedentary behaviors that reinforce preexisting physical disabilities and ultimately lead...
Together, these show that chronic stress is often a result of inequality and lower status. This stress, to a great extent, is adverse to one’s health and can cause anything from obesity to mental illness and even premature
So what is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, or CFS? I would like to be able to explain exactly what CFS is, but true to the nature of what is known about this illness, there is no precise way to describe CFS. Rather, the disease is identified through a number of symptoms (both physical and psychological), including unexplained and persistent fatigue of new or definite onset, concurrent with short-term memory loss, sore throat, tender axillary lymph nodes, muscle pain and unrefreshing sleep, among a number of others, for a duration of at least six months. As is probably evident, the above symptoms, in addition to being signs of CFS, are also the same (or very similar) symptoms experienced in such diseases as Lymes disease and "the flu." There are symptoms that involve the Gastrointestinal Tract (GI), immunological-related symptoms, symptoms of psychiatric disease like depression, sexual malfunction, endocrine dysfunction-basically every system in the body. This is part of the reason why CFS is hard to detect, and is usually chosen as a diagnosis only at the exclusion of all other possible ailments. The other difficulty that lies with diagnosing CFS is that there is no way of measuring the level of a person's fatigue-there is no way for a physician to tell whether a patient complaining of fatigue is experiencing the type of fatigue associated with CFS or he/she is just extremely tired and overworked.
Considering the Beverly’s complaints, she has been undergoing through a season of stressful moments. She kept wondering why she couldn’t do the things she used to before. The doubt presented by her family members and her husband made her discouraged. This kept her depressed. She also engaged in hard activities that triggered other physical challenges that harbor the existence of Fibromyalgia and depression at the same time. Her daily activities forces her to take bed rest in order to fight the fatigue developed from the previous day’s hard labor. These are the major contributing factors to the condition affecting the
But when the “Women’s Movement,” is referred to, one would most likely think about the strides taken during the 1960’s for equal treatment of women. The sixties started off with a bang for women, as the Food and Drug Administration approved birth control pills, President John F. Kennedy established the President's Commission on the Status of Women and appointed Eleanor Roosevelt as chairwoman, and Betty Friedan published her famous and groundbreaking book, “The Feminine Mystique” (Imbornoni). The Women’s Movement of the 1960’s was a ground-breaking part of American history because along with African-Americans another minority group stood up for equality, women were finished with being complacent, and it changed women’s lives today.
6). Workplace health promotion designed to improve lifestyle, and ultimately enhance health, the ability to function, and productivity (Rongen, Robroek, van Lenthe, & Burdorf, 2013, p. 406). Over the years, various theoretical models have evolved to “articulate variables involved in health behavior to predict participation and engage would be non-participants” (Galloway, 2003). Health Belief Model was one of the first theories of health behavior developed in 1950s by a group of social psychologists, who sought to explain what motivates public to participate in programs designed for wellness promotion and disease prevention (Nursing Theories, 2013). According to this model, preventative behaviors depend on the individuals’ beliefs, including their vulnerabilities to the disease, the effect of the disease on their lives, and the effect of health activities on reducing the disease severity and susceptibility (Sharafkhani, Khorsandi, Shamsi, & Ranjbaran, 2014, p.
Falvo, D. R. (2009). Medical and Psychosocial Aspects of Chronic Illness and Disability (4th ed). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Minas, A. (2000). Gender basics: Feminist perspective on women and men.Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Thomson Learning.