Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) has attracted a great deal of media attention in recent years, much of it unfavourable. Despite increasing evidence that ME may have a viral, immunological, or neurological aetiology, this publicity has led to people with ME experiencing negative reactions from many medical doctors and lay-people, who have regarded them as depressed at best and malingerers at worst. Two questions are examined in this article: What is the effect of such negative reaction on the self-concepts of sufferers? Does diagnosis of ME improve self-concept? A rating-style repertory grid was drawn up following semi-structured interviews with a sample of 15 diagnosed ME sufferers. This was administered to a sample of 50 people with ME. The results indicated that a change in self-concept had indeed occurred since contracting ME, but that diagnosis had no effect on this change. ME sufferers actually identified themselves in the same negative terms as they perceived their unfavourable public stereotype.
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