Nature article: 2023 Your brain could be controlling how sick you get — and how you recover

Reading the letter underneath the one from Robert. There is a vast difference between a reality based optimism and the false idea that keeping positive is a treatment with its underlying threat that giving into sadness or despair will kill you.

Putting aside thoughts of what might happen and concentrating on the here and now can make someone feel emotionally better but people need to be allowed to be sad, worried, frightened if that is what they are experiencing.

In the ME world we share our fears and problems because only fellow sufferers truly understand and we do not want our closest friends and family to know how bad things are.

I believe the way we can share our emotions and be supportive is an instance of how mentally balanced we are as a community.