Important Note
If tests show that you suffer from any of these abnormalities / dysfunctions, you can view the treatment options available and discuss them with your own medical doctor or consultant. These treatments can only be undertaken with the permission and supervision of your own medical doctor

Serious physical illness such as Cancer, AIDS, ME, Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, autoimmune illness, Cardiac related illnesses, advanced Diabetes, etc. causes stress for patients. There is the pain and suffering of the illness, the loss of a job or career, the loss of a lifestyle, the loss of the "American dream" or "Irish dream" or "British dream" of working, owning one's house and raising a happy family. There is the break up of a relationship, the withdrawal of love, the stigma of the illness and accompanying prejudices of other people, the social isolation, the financial hardships, the diminishing of hope, etc. etc. These illnesses impose enormous stress on patients, and it is vitally important that patients are provided with a stress reduction strategy or options for stress reduction in addition to medical treatments to treat the physical illness and accompanying infections.

Time to rest and relax

• If you find work too stressful, then (i) reduce your working hours or working days  or  (ii) find a new, less stressful job with shorter working hours or (iii) if you are too ill to work then apply for disability benefit, declaring that you are ill and unable to continue working. Then concentrate on recovery from ME, do what is required to achieve this. Make it your objective to recover fully from ME, and get back working and enjoying life. Believe in yourself and in your ability to recover through proper medical treatments and a healthier lifestyle.

• Identify the ME medical clinic which will give you the best chance of recovery. Attend this clinic and follow the medical treatment protocols.

• Identify all of the stresses in your life, and remove them one by one out of your life, and get them all out of your life.

• Find a place to live where you can be yourself, be relaxed and happy and have peace of mind.

• Get plenty of rest, while you are undergoing medical treatment and while you are recovering.

• See Treatments for Sleeping abnormalities

• Build up your body and mind with filtered water and organic foods.

Healing Relationships

• Build a suppot network of family and friends and others to support you, help you out, encourage you, etc.. Make sure they know about the illness and know that it is a serious physical, biomedical illness which imposes certain limitations on a patient.

• Associate with positive and sympathetic people, who share similar views to yourself.

• Keep away from negative people and negative environments which stress you out. Seek peace, quiet, and solitude in your life as you recover.

• Social and cultural influences also have an impact on illness. Misunderstandings about an illness can easily lead to a convenient judgmental position - that being to blame the patient, tell them "its all in the head". This is a lazy way to treat patients and ignores all of the biologicial evidence. Many societies suffer from inadequate understandings about issues and accompanying judgmental and extremist positions on these issues. Unfortunately, mocking, insulting and belittling disabled people is part of this.
  Do not allow others to stress you out or make you feel guilty for being ill. You are not on this earth to be controlled, judged or put down by others. There are many misinformed and ignorant individuals in the world who presume to know other people, but they don't. These people don't even know themselves, they lack self knowledge. They lack knowledge in many essential areas, so just accept what they are - misinformed and ignorant individuals.

• Social and cultural conditioning in some societies also means there is a reluctance to question authority and to challenge authority, and this has been exposed in the recent banking scandals, insurance scandals, political scandals, church scandals, show-business and television scandals, etc. All of this abuse proceeded from the fact that many people were afraid to question and to challenge corrupt authorities. Many ill people remain ill because good people of integrity refuse or are afraid to stand up and challenge corrupt authorities. This problem still exists

• The success in explaining ME to anyone is dependent on their state of intelligence, their knowledge of the illness (which is almost zero in this country), their level of consciousness, and their ability to empathise with the suffering of another human being and willingness to accept people as they are regardless of disability or other perceived differences. We have to accept that many people, including well-meaning people, lack one or most of these factors, yet they would presume to be full of good intentions. The best thing they can do is learn about the illness, through reading www.me-ireland.com and other web sites, and learning to have empathy with a suffering humanity, and learning to accept people as they are without judgment, prejudice, presumption and assumptions.

• Learn to love yourself. This will make it easier to love others.

• Develop a loving relationship with someone. This will reduce tension and stress.

Spiritual and Emotional Healing

• Bruno Groening spiritual healing

  This uses spiritual or divine energies to rebuild one's health. Confirmed healing of Margriet Koekkoek. Community of Prinsenland, Netherlands. Click here to read article Healing confirmed by Dr. Jola Smarkala and Dr. M.L. van der Wulp Thousands of people have been cured of incurable medical illnesses since the 1950's through the spiritual healing of Bruno Groening, and this has been verified by medical doctors in several countries. For more information, visit the following web site: Bruno Groening spiritual healing

• If you are able, do light, gentle exercise such as Qigong  (Chi Kung)  and Tai Chi every day. They consist of very gentle, slow exercises and deep breathing, many of them can be done standing up or sitting down and involve little or no movement. They open up the energy centers and cause healthy energy (chi) to flow throughout the body, rebuilding and restoring health. They are designed to build up your energy levels not to build muscle or get fit. In China, millions of elderly people some in their eighties and nineties can be seen doing these exercises every day. They do not cause pains and aches like other forms of exercise, as they are gentle and slow. Their focus on increasing energy levels makes them excellent for ME. I have attached a good introduction video to chi kung or qi gong exercises. As you will see it involves little or no movement and focuses on building up one's energy. I have also included a link to books below.
  
  Video: Youtube video - Chi Kung Exercises
  
  Books:
  - Chi Kung for Health and Vitality: A Practical Approach to the Art of Energy
  - Qigong, The Secret of Youth: Da Mo's Muscle/Tendon Changing and Marrow/Brain Washing Classics
  
  Research: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Qigong Exercise on Fatigue Symptoms, Functioning, and Telomerase Activity in Persons with Chronic Fatigue or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Rainbow et al. Annals of Behavioral Medicine October 2012, Volume 44, Issue 2, pp 160-170

• Develop a positive attitude to life and to recovery. Believe in recovery. Feel it and believe it every day. Though this positivity must be accompanied by proper medical treatment focussed on biomedical and biological findings in ME.

• Read Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East (6 Volume Set) by Baird Spalding

• Don't worry about events, feel in control and do what is necessary to get control over events.

• Get Laughter therapy. This therapy has been found to be very effective for stress reduction. Buy or rent comedy videos or watch them online. Enjoy the company of good friends both offline and online, and have a laugh. Get plenty of laughter into your life, every day. This will reduce tension and stress over time and enhance the effectiveness of medical treatments.

• Focus on your breathing. Take long deep breaths. Breathe in positive, healing, strenghtening energy and breathe out tension.

• Homeopathy
  
  • The Homeopathic remedies NEU-regen spag. or PSY-stabil spag. help normalise the nervous system and endocrine system.
  • The remedy SUPREN spag. drops helps the adrenal gland and HPA axis, and reduces stress.

• Learn Relaxation Therapy from a professional

• Acupuncture is good for reducing stress

• Stress Reduction Audio and Music by Dr. Leonard Coldwell

• Listen to your body, if you are tired, then rest and sleep, if you are thirsty, then drink water, if you are going too fast, or feel stressed, then slow down become calm and centered. Don't listen to racing thoughts or to a racing mind, calm the mind and listen to the body.

• Find a spirituality or religion which suits you, which supports you, which uplifts you and nourishes you, which enlightens you, which provides love and wisdom, whose followers do not stigmatise you and discriminate against you (for having a disabililty) ; a spirituality / religion which does not condemn you, does not criticise and judge you. There are many to choose from.

• Explore peace of mind, balance and harmony in life through reading the following best selling books on the subject.
  
  
  • The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle
    
    
  • Practicing the Power of Now: Essential Teachings, Meditations, and Exercises From The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
    
    
  • A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose (Oprah's Book Club, Selection 61) by Eckhart Tolle, Penguin, 2009
    
    
  • A Course In Miracles by the Foundation for Inner Peace is also a good book in this area.

• Listen to relaxing classical music and relax in a quiet room  -  for 1 hour or more, every day

• The following book The Healing Code: 6 Minutes to Heal the Source of Your Health, Success, or Relationship Issue focuses on stress and how it worsens physical illnesses.

• Transcendental meditation to relax the mind and body. Individual meditation or meditation groups.

Developing one's creativity and one's talents

• Spend time in nature - in forests, beside the sea, in the countryside, in the company of animals, in mountains, in wilderness. Admire its beauty and draw in the healing energies of nature.

• Find meaningful hobbies and pursuits which give you emotional fulfillment, happiness and a sense of achievement

• Do things which make a difference, which have meaning, purpose and significance, which improve or uplift your life and the life of other people

• Find a deeper meaning to your life. Read Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, this book has helped many millions of people overcome difficult circumstances in life. Focus on "being" rather than having things or acquiring things.

Cure Together web site lists treatments which patients found effective
http://curetogether.com/chronic-fatigue-syndrome/treatments/

Research articles & Clinical Findings
- some ME clinics use this. See listing of clinics in Diagnosis and Treatments section