My visits to St Paul's have certainly been eventful. I've met some interesting people, some very committed political types, some who come along out of curiosity to find out what it's all about, some out-and-out nutcases and a few tourists and daytrippers.
As for my GET activity diary, I'll be upfront about it. This is what I do. I take photographs. I didn't go on a photography course in order to leave my camera gathering dust in the cupboard. More than anything, I need to be out there and experiencing life in order to respond to what I see. And if the GET therapist doesn't like it because these expeditions cannot be quantified in 'exercise' terms then so be it.
6 comments:
This is my fav shot from graded activism, superb.
And in terms of ME, this *is* exercise!
ask her to do some exercises for you to demonstrate what she means and take photos of her :O)
Good for you, Digi - and hurrah!
ps. Did you see the article from Telegraph last week about the poor 'chronically fatigued' bankers?
http://www.meassociation.org.uk/?p=8667
They have since edited the article since it was pointed out by Invest in ME that chronic fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome are not same thing!
http://www.meactionuk.org.uk/Doctors-and-Bankers.htm
Thanks for the link, nmj. Same old, same old, and this is one of my gripes with the GET therapists. They see people with the catch all 'chronic fatigue' complaint and these will be the people who will respond well to exercise because they are suffering with burnout/depression/insomnia and not ME.
I had a look through the GET folder tonight and I just felt angry. It's as if every symptom is due to 'deconditioning' which must be corrected at all costs by exercise. Not graded activity, but *exercise*, as in keep fit or physical training.
On looking at the sample diaries, it's like reading a misinformed civil servant's view of ME. Even the sleep diary sample where you are supposed to keep a record of your sleep and your thoughts when you are awake. For example: "5am - worried about whether I remembered to feed the dog". Yes, really. I mean, the phantom dog would let the fictionalised owner know if it was hungry. Pets don't forget their mealtimes. They don't let you toss and turn in the night worrying about whether you'd fed them or not. They just bark and demand food.
That's the sort of made up rubbish they come up with.
I really can't see myself going 12 rounds with this woman. However, I have some motivation to improve my walking and physical fitness overall but I don't believe that this GET programme is the way to achieve it. The only way I can realistically proceed is for me to state what my needs are and ask her what she can do to help me achieve what I want. I can only take it from there. If I get the Stepford Wife robotics from her I'll know for sure that it's not for me.
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