Abstract

People with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)/ME experience extreme tiredness and a range of other symptoms, including pain, headaches, impaired concentration and memory, anxiety, sleep problems, and palpitations. The condition can affect all areas of a sufferer's life and, in turn, the lives of those who are close to them.

This book provides the families and friends of people with CFS/ME with an accessible introduction to the condition, and explains what can be done to support those who have it. It offers useful advice on how to help a loved one cope with the illness, and suggests ways to help them with everyday issues such as personal hygeine, nutrition, finances, and relationships. Recognising that coping with the impact of CFS/ME can be just as difficult for the relatives and friends of those with the condition, it addresses the emotional, social, and practical aspects of having a loved one with CFS/ME, explains how to understand the changes in their relationship with the sufferer, how to manage stress, and where to go for further help and support. The book also includes detailed case studies and practical advice from a wide range of people with mild, moderate, and severe CFS/ME, and their loved ones.

This book offers much-needed information and support to the friends, families, and carers of people with CFS/ME. It will also be a useful resource for health professionals who wish to deepen their understanding of CFS/ME, including home helps, care staff, counsellors, therapists, doctors, and nurses.

Writing a book about CFS/ME after having gone through the wringer of this illness is an enormous task. Turp has met this challenge with success. Her book should be read by those with CFS/ME who are trying to find a way out. It should be read by people who care for sufferers of CFS/ME, who want to understand, and who want to help the people they care about... It shines through in every page that she has likely borne the brunt of most or all of theses scenarios herself, and is bent on doing what she can to protect others from the experience. If you've come up against the brick wall that is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME, having the disease yourself or loving someone who does, Turp's book is worth the read. Turp is practical above all else. In dealing with an illness that leaves the victim stymied and unable to function, perhaps unable to sit up in bed, and often unable to think clearly for any length of time, coping with even the simple basics of life can be beyond them. Turp is clear. The person living with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME is in a dire position. If you know someone with CFS/ME, don't leave them to try to deal with it alone. And if you know someone with CFS/ME, read Turp's book, roll up your sleeves, and find a way to make their life more bearable.
www.empowher.com
If you ever wished there was a book you could give to a family member or a friend that would explain in detail what it really is like having ME, then this is that book. It is a book written specifically for the family, friends and carers of people with ME. Its aim is to help them understand this often misunderstood condition better and provides practical advice and support for not just the person with the illness but also to those around them... where the author excels at is explaining what it really feels like to have CFS/ME. She covers many useful areas, such as why it might be hard for a person with ME to talk about the condition, thus helping friends and family appreciate the different experiences and emotions that a person with ME is likely to be going through. Elizabeth Turp is a counsellor, as well as someone who has had ME herself, and her deep understanding of the condition really shows in this book... She starts by discussing all those emotions that a person can go through when their loved one becomes seriously ill. She then moves on to social relationships, explaining how and why ME can change them, a particularly valuable section I thought. There is also a section on communication, again very useful as it is a common experience for many people that they do not quite know what to say to someone who is seriously ill, or are afraid of saying the wrong thing. For someone familiar with the illness this may all seem quite obvious, but I am sure for someone new to the condition it is good to be able see they are not alone in having these kinds of problems... I think this is a very valuable and worthwhile book. It offers support for those people who are often in a difficult situation, trying to support someone who suffers from a potentially very long term illness. In such a situation, the main focus is, naturally enough, on the person who is ill, but it is all too easy to forget the carers and the problems and emotions that they are going through. If this book makes their life any more easier - and as a result, helps the person who is ill too - then the book has achieved its aim.
West London ME Support Group
Elizabeth Turp is an integrative counsellor working in NHS primary care and private practice on Merseyside in the UK. She has worked as a counsellor for 15 years with various client groups including victims of crime, the homeless, students and GP patients. In 2005 she became ill with CFS/ME and at her worst was unable to work, walk, read or drive. Faced with losing everything, she put her research and health care skills into finding out all she could about the illness and recovered some of her health. She is now writing to pass on what she learned to other people affected by CFS/ME. She loves music, dancing, food, film and being outdoors.
the book is very strong on compassion, and the emotional aspects of being a friend/carer of someone with CFS/ME. There are sections for partners, parents, siblings, children and work colleagues. The author also tackles many practical issues relating to personal hygiene, food and nutrition, mobility, domestic tasks and money and employment.
ME Essential
As a long-term ME sufferer myself I can recommend this book> in particular its comprehensiveness and accessibility/readability, issues doubtless borne in mind by the author who is recovered ME sufferer.
Ministry Today UK
People with CFS/ME are very much affected by what 'other people' think, say or do. If things don't go well, it is usually because those others don't know or understand, or just don't 'get it', perhaps feeling frightened, threatened or useless. Here is a straightforward and practical resource to fill those knowledge gaps, drawn from both personal experiences and professional insights'.
Professor Tony Pinching, Associate Dean, University of Plymouth, UK.