Resting

I think a lot of people struggle to understand what exactly counts as resting when you have M.E. When 'healthy' people get sick with a cold or virus, they may stay in bed and read, watch TV, listen to music etc but when you have M.E, 'resting' means complete rest. 

For an M.E patient to rest, we have to rest our minds and our bodies. Every part of us has to be in a state of rest. This means that we can't listen to music when resting, talk to people, watch television or even be in the same room as someone else. 

If we were watching television, our minds and senses would still be working and in overload. There would be bright lights, sounds, people talking and our brains would have to work to follow the programme, work out what was going on and keep up with the constantly changing picture. This is not resting. 

Resting is laying on/in a bed, with your eyes closed, with little or no sound and being in a relaxed state where both your body and mind are completely resting. 

I hope this helps some of you that we're not too sure on how an M.E sufferer rests and why we can't do something and rest at the same time. 

Chloe xx