How you see yourself is often reflected in the words others use to describe you. The way you come across to those around you can make a big difference in how well you live your life. That’s why it’s important to choose describing words that are honest and accurately capture your positive qualities.
A good place to start is by asking those closest to you what they think of you. This can be family members, close friends and even coworkers. If you are applying to college or looking for a job, it’s also a great idea to ask teachers and recommendation letter writers.
The most common way that people describe themselves is as an “I” or an “N”. These letters refer to your dominant personality traits – for example, I may be an introvert or an extrovert, while N stands for intuitive or sensing. The letters are based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), which is used by many careers and in business for recruitment, team building and personal development.
For the purposes of this article, however, we’re going to focus on a specific illness called myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). While there have been many names for this condition over the years, the most recent diagnostic criteria are based on the Canadian Consensus Criteria for ME and CFS. These criteria define ME/CFS as a neuroimmune illness that is chronic and severely debilitating.
While there is no cure for ME/CFS, symptoms can be managed through pacing (adding activities to your day according to how much energy you have), using medications and other treatments to treat pain, and learning ways to manage your lifestyle. Symptoms can vary from person to person, but on average people with ME/CFS are more disabled on quality of life surveys than those with other illnesses such as multiple sclerosis, stroke, diabetes, lung disease or heart failure.
ME/CFS is a complex and misunderstood illness, partly because its symptoms are similar to those of other illnesses such as depression, fibromyalgia and Lyme disease. There are no laboratory tests for ME/CFS, so diagnosis is based on medical history and a pattern of symptoms over time.
It can be difficult to distinguish ME/CFS from other diseases because the symptoms are similar and tend to be worsened by activity and not relieved by rest. This makes it difficult for healthcare providers to diagnose ME/CFS because they must rule out other illnesses that could be causing the patient’s symptoms. The diagnosis is often delayed because of this. Until more accurate diagnostic tools are available, patients must be careful to avoid activities that might cause their symptoms to get worse. This can be challenging for those with severe ME/CFS, who can end up housebound or bedbound and require around the clock care. This can be extremely hard on the whole family and can impact quality of life. For this reason, it is very important that everyone in the ME/CFS community works together to understand the illness and help support each other.