{"id":11840,"date":"2017-02-13T08:11:45","date_gmt":"2017-02-13T08:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/?p=11840"},"modified":"2017-02-13T08:11:45","modified_gmt":"2017-02-13T08:11:45","slug":"narratives-of-young-people-living-with-a-diagnosis-of-cfsme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/narratives-of-young-people-living-with-a-diagnosis-of-cfsme\/","title":{"rendered":"Narratives of young people living with a diagnosis of CFS\/ME"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thesis\u00a0abstract:<\/strong><\/p>\n

CFS\/ME (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome\/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) is a\u00a0distressing and potentially debilitating condition. It can also be\u00a0understood as a contested condition, surrounded by controversy about its\u00a0nature, causes and treatment. Previous research indicates that those\u00a0affected experience this climate of contestation as a troubling and
\ndiscrediting assault, not only on the nature of their condition, but\u00a0also on their identities. However, little attention has been paid to the\u00a0voices of young people living with CFS\/ME.<\/p>\n

This thesis extends a relatively small literature in new directions,\u00a0focusing a constructionist, discursive narrative lens on the accounts of\u00a0ten young people (aged 13-18) living with a diagnosis of CFS\/ME.<\/p>\n

Narratives constructed during repeated interviews over a year, and\u00a0drawing on multimodal materials collected by participants over that\u00a0period, were analysed for their content, structure and performance, with\u00a0reference to the local and broader contexts of their production.<\/p>\n

This analysis demonstrates that teenagers construct rich, multi-layered\u00a0narratives with the potential to enhance understanding of their\u00a0situation and broader features of the social world. As they speak of the\u00a0onset of illness, attempts to live with enduring, unpredictable symptoms\u00a0and their psychosocial consequences, and (for some) the possibility of
\n\u201cmoving on\u201d from the worst of illness, this analysis throws new light on\u00a0how young people\u2019s narratives can be understood as simultaneously\u00a0constructing the condition (\u201cM.E.\u201d) and the identities of those involved\u00a0(\u201cme\u201d and others), in ways that engage with, reflect and resist\u00a0prevailing discourses.<\/p>\n

It is argued that the discursive contexts of CFS\/ME and adolescence\u00a0raise particular challenges for young people as they try to construct\u00a0credible narratives that convey the full extent of their difficulties,\u00a0while resisting stigmatising identities (eg, as \u201ccomplaining\u201d, \u201clazy\u201d or\u00a0otherwise \u201cnot normal\u201d). This analysis highlights implications for them,\u00a0their families and those who work professionally with them; and for the\u00a0ongoing social construction of CFS\/ME in young people.<\/p>\n

There are powerful cultural pressures on YP living with CFS\/ME to demonstrate that they are not “lazy”, and are doing everything possible to try to improve their situation – and ideally, that they are successful in making progress over time, suggesting a path either back towards health or towards other “personal growth” and learning. Though this applies to many living with illness, it is particularly salient in the context of cultural pressures for YP to demonstrate increasing levels of autonomy and self-mastery. Professionals should be conscious of their own wish (and pressure) for YP to produce such narratives of progress; and that this may silence other important stories, including those of ongoing problems and a need for continuing support.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [p287]<\/p>\n

Narratives of young people living with a diagnosis of\u00a0Chronic Fatigue Syndrome\/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS\/ME), <\/a>by\u00a0\u00a0Wendy Solomons University of Hertfordshire, School of Psychology, Doctoral Thesis, Mar 2016\u00a0[published online\u00a06\u00a0Feb 2017]<\/p>\n

Download full thesis<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thesis\u00a0abstract: CFS\/ME (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome\/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis) is a\u00a0distressing and potentially debilitating condition. It can also be\u00a0understood as a contested condition, surrounded by controversy about its\u00a0nature, causes and treatment. Previous research indicates that those\u00a0affected experience this climate of contestation as a … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[625,257,2911,3508,212],"class_list":["post-11840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-adolescents","tag-children","tag-thesis","tag-wendy-solomons","tag-young-people"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5qkYK-34Y","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11840"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11847,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11840\/revisions\/11847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}