It’s been eight weeks since Frances Ryan left the house, five weeks since she learnt to eat again – and three months since exhaustion took its hold. This is a familiar reality for millions of women living with debilitating illness in the UK, she says. So, why aren’t we talking about it?
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For Rosie Fletcher, her
ME means both her body and mind can simultaneously experience “complete exhaustion". “It varies from day to day how it affects me,” she says. “On my worst days, I have to turn the television off because I’m too tired to keep my eyes open to watch it – thank goodness for podcasts – and if someone asks me if I want a cup of tea, I can’t work out the answer.”
No one really talks about this. There are millions of women in the UK living with debilitating physical illnesses or disabilities – whether that’s a short spell of bad health or long-term, chronic conditions. And yet I realise, as I write this, that I’ve not had these conversations. I can count the number of times I’ve spoken in detail about illness – no editing, full detail – with friends or family on thumbs, let alone one hand. Twenty-eight-year-old Fletcher tells me she spends much of her time minimising “how bad I am” to smooth over social interactions – “it’s just easier to glide over it” – and I know I’ve done the same more times than I want to remember.
