Stricken: Voices from the Hidden Epidemic of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

by Munson; Molly

• ISBN13: 9780789008954
• ISBN10: 0789008955
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2000-11-02
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Develop a better understanding of what CFS/CFIDS sufferers are going through! In the 1980s, a strange emerging epidemic baffled doctors in Incline Village, Nevada. Dismissed by the media as "The Yuppie Flu," Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS) turned out to be neither a faddish disease of the wealthy nor a passing trend, but rather a growing worldwide epidemic of devastating proportions. In the voices of a South African journalist, a former marathon runner, a teenage girl, a public health activist living on the edge of race and gender, a cancer patient neglected by doctors because of disdain for her chronic illness, and a theologian relearning the art of spiritual empathy, the people who share their stories in Stricken: Voices from the Hidden Epidemic of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome defy cultural stereotypes and explore the complex social and political dynamics of this hidden epidemic. Through their distinct points of view, we feel the grief and hope of those stricken with CFIDS and learn of the complex nature of this misunderstood disorder. These are compelling stories about a quiet and baffling epidemic. The first American anthology to contain stories from a diverse range of people with CFIDS, Stricken offers an intimate look at the political and social issues surrounding CFIDS, as told by those who are living through this ordeal. Stricken addresses several issues, such as: why some doctors still do not believe CFIDS is real how the disease is mocked in the media myths about this illness the personal fight for medical or public recognition the skepticism and hope that is felt by the ever-growing number of CFIDS sufferers Stricken confronts fascinating CFIDS issues such as the Kevorkian suicides, accusations of Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy, Gulf War Syndrome, the role of storytelling in a memory-impaired patient movement, and the feasibility of mass activism in a disabled population. With contributions from Pulitzer-prize nominated writer Susan Griffin, renowned health writer and radio host Gary Null, well-known feminist activist Joan Nestle, and award-winning poet and essayist Floyd Skloot, Stricken is an eloquent testament to the heroism, defiance, and diversity of the CFIDS community.

Table of Contents

About the Editor	x
Contributors	xi
Foreword	xvii
Leonard A. Jason
Renee R. Taylor
Preface	xxiii
Acknowledgments	xxv
Introduction	1	(22)
Peggy Munson
PART I: DOUBT AND DIAGNOSIS
Encounters with the Invisible	23	(8)
Dorothy Wall
From What Her Body Thought: A Journey into the Shadows	31	(8)
Susan Griffin
When Tiredness Gives Way to Tiredness	39	(4)
Joan Nestle
Object Assembly	43	(6)
Floyd Skloot
PART II: ATLANTIS
One Window	49	(4)
Dorian Key
Silent Trespass	53	(8)
Nadine Goranson
Prisoner of CFIDS	61	(8)
Mayra Lazara
Bittersweet Nightshade	69	(2)
Floyd Skloot
Right Where I Am	71	(2)
Kate Foran
Valley of Shadows: Journal Entries	73	(6)
Phyllis Griffiths
Stealth	79	(6)
Willy Wilkinson
Roller Coasters	85	(6)
Eva Marie Everson
PART III: MEMORY AND METAPHOR
Immune Means Memory	91	(4)
Kathleen Bogan
The Paradox of Lost Fingerprints: Metaphor and the Shaming of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome	95	(32)
Peggy Munson
Fossil Memories	127	(6)
Kat Duff
In the Shadow of Memory	133	(16)
Floyd Skloot
PART IV: SYNERGY AND MOVEMENT
On Life, Death, and the Nature of Limbo: Assisted Suicides in the CFIDS Community	149	(14)
Peggy Munson
From Activist to ``Passivist'': Where Is the Mass Movement?	163	(10)
June Stein
The Gulf War's Troubling Legacy	173	(12)
Gary Null
The Amazing Illness That Doesn't Exist	185	(6)
Chris Szabo
Taking the Rap: Parents, Blame, and Pediatric CFIDS	191	(8)
Mary Munson
PART V: FATE AND FAITH
Kismet	199	(14)
Floyd Skloot
Spiritual Healing, Holistic Healing, and the White Light Fascists	213	(8)
Caitlin MacEwan
CFIDS, Suffering, and the Divine	221	(14)
James Rotholz
PART VI: LOVE AND ALLIANCE
CFIDS---A Love Poem	235	(4)
Stacey Montgomery
What's a Mother to Do?	239	(6)
Gloria Kartiganer
Dating CFIDS	245	(6)
Andrew Corriveau
Sick Sex Revisited	251	(6)
Susan Dion
Long Illness	257	(2)
Ellen Samuels
Index	259