The New York State Department of Health recently established a new webpage about ME/CFS, which is current as of May 2018. Local advocates, including Mary Dimmock and Terri Wilder, worked to create a webpage that allows for a basic understanding of ME/CFS and which also corrects the common misconceptions about the disease. The page not only outlines the symptoms, diagnosis, and current treatment options for the disease, but it also says that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and graded exercise therapy (GET) are harmful to patients, explaining in bolded letters that ME/CFS “is not a psychiatric disorder and it is not caused by a lack of exercise, contrary to common belief.“ 

The participants plan to view the webpage as a “live” document, and will update it periodically as needed to include new information that is found about the disease. Global patient advocacy organization #MEAction also participated in deciding what information should be included, and a blog post on their website about the new webpage says that there is potential for the page to reach a very wide audience. They quote Wilder, who says, “it’s about getting people to understand that this is a public health issue and a social justice issue.”

To read the Ny State Department of Health webpage on ME/CFS, click here.