Shame, Psychology and ME

Cheston, Richard; Cheston, Katharine

Abstract

In 2008, when she was 15, Katharine Cheston became ill with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or ME. Over the next decade and more Katharine, and ourselves as a family, encountered many different psychological ideas and therapies, often being offered by non-psychologists. One such belief system involves the constuction of ME as a psychiatric illness that is perpetuated by false illness beliefs and the avoidance of exercise.
This session is a personal reflection on this process, the role that shame played in our lives and the wider dearth of appropriate services for people with ME.

• Presentation Conference Type: Presentation / Talk
• Conference Name: Psychological Sciences Research Group meeting
• Start Date: Feb 20, 2025
• End Date: Feb 20, 2025
• Deposit Date: Feb 20, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 25, 2025
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: ME, Shame, Graded exercise therapy, CFS, CBT
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/13780159