THE TOXIC TIREDNESS EXAMINED ON BBC ALBA
TRUSADH - ME : AN SGÌTHS NIMHEIL / THE TOXIC TIREDNESS
BBC ALBA, Monday 23rd and 30th January, 9pm
What it is like to have an illness which makes sufferers feel so tired they can’t put one foot in front of the other, or even drink a glass of water, and which many doctors don’t believe even exists, is examined in a new two part BBC ALBA documentary.
ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis), also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome now affects around 250,000 people in the UK, but medical opinion remains split over its cause. It is characterised by severe fatigue that can leave sufferers unable to continue with normal life. Some claim its roots are purely physical, occurring post-virally, others believe that psychological triggers are involved. The truth is unclear, and there are wide divisions between the different schools of thought.
In a two-part special, BBC ALBA’s Trusadh documentary ‘ME : An Sgìths Nimheil / The Toxic Tiredness’ hears from people living with ME.
In the first programme we hear from five people who have ME, the impact of the illness on their lives and their quest for respite - Allison MacColl, a nurse and mother from Lewis; Sean Ankers, a divinity student from Inverness; Neil MacLean, a policeman from Easter Ross; Kim Ayres, a photographer and entrepreneur from Dumfries; and author, Nasim Marie Jafry.
When Neil MacLean became ill at work 22 years ago he had no idea that he might never feel well again. The former policeman, originally from the Isle of Lewis but who has lived in Easter Ross for many years, had collapsed with flu-like symptoms and dizziness. An inner ear infection was diagnosed and he was told he would recover within weeks. Instead, his condition worsened, and within two years he had given up work and was housebound, eventually being diagnosed with ME.
Neil said: “The thing about this illness is that it seems to take such a long time for the Doctors to diagnose. If something could be done to make the medical profession more aware of it and diagnose cases much earlier, then that could speed up recovery and prevent people spending a lifetime suffering from its effects.”
The second programme takes a closer look at the scientific debate behind the frustrating, uncertain world of ME and its treatments, exploring the work of David Mickel, a Scottish doctor who believes he has found the 'cure' for ME through a talking therapy which addresses an imbalance in the emotional centre of the brain. He has no scientific proof, but claims a positive success rate.
BBC ALBA follows two patients, Allison MacColl from Ness in Lewis and Kim Ayres from Castle Douglas in Dumfriesshire, as they undergo Mickel’s controversial therapy, and we hear another, and very different perspective, on the illness from neurologist, Prof. Peter Behan, who has carried out groundbreaking studies on ME at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow.
Produced by MacTV for BBC ALBA ‘Trusadh - ME : An Sgìths Nimheil / The Toxic Tiredness’ is a two part documentary being broadcast on Monday 23rd and 30th January at 9pm.