The Danger of Misunderstanding ME/CFS: Line Langager Anderson’s Story

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Line Langager Anderson, a severe ME/CFS patient in Denmark, is fighting a horrifying battle to protect her health and dignity.

Disabling Chronic Illness

ME/CFS, or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, is a serious and long-lasting illness that affects many parts of the body, including the nervous system, immune system, and energy production.

The most common symptom is extreme fatigue that doesn’t get better with rest and worsens after even small amounts of physical or mental activity, a condition known as Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM).

Doctors don’t yet know what causes ME/CFS, but it often begins after an infection, injury, or other major stress on the body. The illness varies in severity, with some individuals unable to leave their homes or even their beds.

There’s currently no cure, so treatment focuses on managing symptoms and improving quality of life. Unfortunately, ME/CFS is frequently misunderstood or misdiagnosed, leading to inadequate or even harmful treatments for many patients.

Line’s Case

Despite living with debilitating symptoms for several years, Line’s medical team is treating her case as psychiatric and is pressuring her to undergo treatments that could harm her, including antipsychotics, forced rehabilitation, CBT, and even electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).

Psychiactric Treatments for Physical Illness

These approaches not only lack scientific support for ME but could also worsen her already fragile health, putting her life at risk.

ECT, in particular, is extremely dangerous for ME patients which can worsening of neurological symptoms.

For someone like Line, whose body is already overwhelmed by her illness, such a treatment could cause long-term harm.

The suggested use of ECT reflects a troubling trend in the medical community, where ME is often misunderstood and misdiagnosed as a psychiatric condition, resulting in harmful and unsupported treatments being forced upon ME/CFS patients.

Worse Than Torture

In a statement to the Canary, Line states

ME worsens with all forms of strain. What they intend to subject me to is so barbaric that the word torture is not sufficient. Where are our rights as severely ill patients in Denmark? This could kill me. That is not an exaggeration.

 

Line Langager Anderson, Yet another severe ME/CFS patient is being threatened with detention in a psychiatric ward