My name is Marina Weisband and my body battery is dead.
I am politically active, stand up for democracy, have a family and a thousand hobbies.
And two years ago, half of them died.
I suffer from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
On a good day I can still walk a kilometer and stand for 5 minutes without feeling dizzy.
In front of a camera, I’m even able to perform at my best for a short time. Especially when I’m at home.
On a bad day I can’t move, lie in bed in a darkened room. Talking and noises hurt me. Everything costs me energy.
Not only work, but also chatting with friends exhausts me and I regenerate not in sleep.
I’m not tired, I’m seriously ill. It took me a long time to find a doctor who took my symptoms seriously and didn’t blame them on stress.
There is currently no therapy for me.
I have to manage my energy like a precious resource.
I am one of around 300,000 people in Germany. It’s not a rare condition.
And yet there is virtually no research on it.
I have a mild form of ME/CFS. The unfortunates with the severe form are permanently bedbound. Some no longer able to speak. That’s why it’s so important that we, the happier patients, doctors and researchers, raise our voices for those who can no longer.
We need research and help. We are valuable to society. Even when we’re in bed. The value of a person is not measured solely by what he can achieve.
The world inside us is so much bigger than our bodies can often express.
We don’t want to survive. We want to live.
Source: Stern
I am a 24-year-old writer and journalist who has been working in the news industry for the past two years. I write primarily about market news, so if you’re looking for insights into what’s going on in the stock market or economic indicators, you’ve come to the right place. I also dabble in writing articles on lifestyle trends and pop culture news.
