From the August 2002 issue of Elle:
The Thin Successful Woman's Disease by Judith Warner
There are times in life when you can’t—or won’t—stop banging your head against the wall. And at those times it is more comforting to think that you suffer from a syndrome than to admit your own shortcomings and inability to change.
But at a certain point we just have to get over it.
When I first read the above excerpt from Judith's article, I immediately started planning my blog rant. But just to be fair, I thought it might be a good idea to actually read the article - there are generally two sides to every story.
And guess what? I found that I actually share some of the same reactions to the whole CFS/FMS milieu as Judith. She has had the same experiences we've all had as we try to navigate our way the medical morass - mis-diagnoses, skeptical doctors, and the perverse relief we get when someone finally attaches a "label" to our symptom set. I laughed at her descriptions of some of the more extreme self help communities. I tend to get all creepy crawly when I brush up against the "group hug" self-help sites. Those sites are often a very short step away from Quackdom.
But where Judith and I diverge is what we've concluded from our experiences. In a way I admire Judith - she's up front in admitting that she thinks her problems are the result (somatization) of anxiety. Many of us are so gun shy about the "All In Your Head" label, that even if we think anxiety might exacerbate our pre-existing conditions, we're hesitant to discuss it - which is too bad.
But, I think Judith has swung way too far to the somatization side. She completely disallows any physical basis for CFS/FMS - in her view, it really is AIYH. I think it's much more complicated than that.
I also think that in some respects her article does a great disservice to the open and on-going dialog of just what CFS/FMS is all about. She pretty much slams the door on anything other than somatization. But, you know what, she's a fellow sufferer and she has a right to her conclusions regarding her disorder. However, I don't think she has justification or basis to pass her conclusions off as fact.
8:20:25 PM 
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