Two utterly devastating stories in the media today regarding ME which saddens me beyond words.
A 43-year-old woman suffering from the condition ME has travelled to Switzerland to take her own life....see link. Nicola Mcnougher, a psychologist, knew that treatments such as CBT (cognitive behavoural therapy )being offered sufferers were of no benefit, she stated in May of this year "Why is the UK so slow? This is causing deaths. Our living deaths."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/7588385.stm
Also
In Australia, Emily Chapman, 20 years of age, hanged herself in the Cumberland Hospital psychiatric unit. Emily, a sufferer since she was 13 had been admitted to hospital nine times. She had previously been in the same unit where she was allegedly accused of being"a attention seeker" by one of the night nurses. In a letter Emily wrote to the hospital, but never sent for fear of retribution, she spoke of being deliberately kept awake, of being denied her medication, and being told to "watch the television" when she was feeling anxious. Another nurse from the same ward resigned in protest at the "patient abuse" on the ward. The inquest into Emily's suicide continues.
1 comment:
The problem is that you can totally understand where they are coming from. Being bedbound I have to confess that Switzerland is something that I have looked into as my life has slipped away from me, and the quality just gets worse and worse.
My situation is not helped by having MS as well, there has been a lot of research done, but currently there is nothing but symptom management if you are progressive which I am. The positive thing about having the MS is that the medical establishment and social services have no problem with it, so from that point of view it changed things massively when I was diagnosed.
You have been battling this evil thing for much longer than I have, but I am really glad for you that you have a wonderful family around you, and someone to share your life with.
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