»We Cannot Ignore Me / CFS«

A low quality of life, isolation from society to the point of disappearance and under-funded research – these are the key words currently associated with the disease Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). This affects over half a million people in
Germany alone, with 80,000 of those being children and young people. The World Health Organisation first classified the disease in 1969, however, decades of collective ignorance have since followed, creating a vicious circle that persists to this day.

Part I: Film “UNREST” (USA 2017, 97 min, Director/Writer: Jennifer Brea)
At the age of 28, Harvard PhD student Jennifer Brea became severely ill with ME/CFS. Tied to her bed, she is confronted with medical ignorance, gaslighting and psychologisation until she decides to film her search for answers. The result is an award-winning documentary film that makes the extent of a worldwide human disaster visible through a domestic microcosm.

Part II: Panel discussion
Following the film there will be a panel discussion chaired by Jasmin Degeling (Bauhaus University Weimar) with contributions from Bruno Kolterer (paediatrician specialising in child cardiology), Lilli Hallmann (advisor for Thüringia for NichtGenesenKids e. V., representing relatives and carers) and those who have been affected from the ME/CFS network for Thüringia about the mechanisms that render ME/CFS invisible and possible ways to overcome discrimination against those affected and their relatives and carers.

The film will be followed by a panel discussion in German. You can take part in the discussion online via nichtgenesenkids.de/wwt/nichtgenesenkids-veranstaltungsreihe/