Mighty Member since April 2017
I'm a family doctor with ME/CFS who left medicine because I felt I was causing harm. I wanted to listen better to my patients and to work with the intelligence within their symptoms. I also wanted to find a better way. When I retrained as a somatic trauma therapist, I learned about research I never knew of in medical school. Along the way I also developed chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). At my worst I was bedridden for 9 months. What I’ve learned about trauma has gradually helped me heal. It’s helped me and many others, including my readers, make sense of symptoms, flares and triggers. My illness has been one of my greatest challenges – and my greatest teacher. I blog about the science of how adverse life events increase risk for chronic illness. The effects of trauma are physiological, not psychological. And it happens because life experiences alter our genes, our nervous systems and immune systems, and more. I write to share the science with fellow patients and health care professionals because it takes time to translate the science to medical care. Veronique Mead, MD, MA Chronic Illness Trauma Studies.com Dr. Mead has been nominated for a 2019 #WEGO Patient Leader Best in Show Blog and is hoping to win the opportunity to speak about trauma to health industry leaders and innovators in October.