Thank you very much, Jacqui, and I will certainly pass on good wishes to both daughters. Yes, for me also, who have two very close family sufferers, it's taken quite a long time even to begin to understand, and because it expresses itself differently in each individual, and also can fluctuate within the same person, both in symptoms and effects, it makes it even more difficult to get hold of.
That's why, I think, that it's important to try to raise awareness - not only because it's very distressing and worrying for sufferers who may not know what's wrong (and even if they do), but because, as Bern rightly notes, there do seem all kinds of judgements around it. They vary from "laziness" and "malingering" to the most convoluted of amateur psychoanalysis
as people try to make sense of something unfamiliar. These theories can add stress too, which is something the sufferer is supposed to avoid, and unfortunately, interventions based on misplaced judgements can actually exacerbate the illness.
Further research and specialist training for our professionals is maybe also something that extra awareness may ultimately bring about.
