If you are asked to describe yourself in one word, it is important that you choose carefully. Choosing a positive word will create a good impression with the interviewer and show that you have a can-do attitude. Negative words, on the other hand, can be misleading and give a negative impression of your personality.
The word I am is about much more than your personality, however. It’s about what makes you unique and how these characteristics can help you in the workplace. It is also about how you manage your symptoms and how you live your life with ME/CFS.
People with ME/CFS often feel like their bodies are constantly running out of energy and that they can’t get properly recharged. They may find it hard to do simple tasks, have trouble concentrating or remembering things, struggle with pain and discomfort and have difficulty regulating their body temperature.
It is a complex illness that can be triggered by infection, often, but not always, viral. It has no known cause and there is no cure or test for it. It can be triggered by many different things including a flu-like virus, a major physical trauma, an operation or vaccination and for some people there is no identifiable trigger at all.
There is currently no cure for ME but there are treatments and self-management techniques that can help to improve the quality of a person’s day to day living. There are many different treatment options available and it is important that a person with ME/CFS is given a full assessment and the correct diagnosis before they begin any treatment. It is also important that other possible causes of the symptoms are excluded.
GPs and other healthcare professionals who specialise in ME/CFS are often very knowledgeable about the condition and can provide support and guidance. They can also refer a person to specialist services as appropriate. People with ME/CFS can also access ME/CFS services from local support groups which can provide peer support and offer practical advice and support for managing the illness.
ME/CFS can be very difficult to diagnose and it can take time for a person to receive the correct diagnosis. Many people with ME/CFS find it helpful to keep a diary of their symptoms and share this with their GP.
There is a lot of research into ME/CFS, but it’s still not known what exactly causes the illness. It is not a psychiatric disorder, it is not caused by lack of exercise and it is not contagious. Researchers are working on the largest ME study to date, DecodeME, which is looking at ME from a biological perspective in order to understand what is going wrong at a molecular level. The aim of the project is to discover a genetic cause and potentially develop a treatment. It is hoped that this will happen within the next five years. In the meantime, people with ME/CFS can be assured that they are not alone and that their GP will do everything they can to support them in managing their lives with this complex and disabling disease.