Even if those of us with ME have a simple duty to ourselves to identify stressors, the things which stress us can feel an unholy mess of difficult issues. That mess can be simplified by accepting that only 3 options actually exist. We can:- 1) remove ourselves from the source of the stress. 2) tackle the stressor and (objectively) try to alter its impact. 3) Failing that, in some cases it is plausible to subjectively tackle the stressor by working to soften the feelings of stress it provokes. Taking action on any stressor can start by simply choosing which of these numbers you are going to apply to it.

Changes in lifestyle, our immediate environment, and relationships with others will often involve communicating with other people in fairly clear terms about how things affect us and how they might cooperate. A straight talking dialogue with ourselves will also frequently be needed. It might be useful to start with a simple Frame listing key times when you are likely to feel overly-stressed or put too much stress on body or mind. Then add a Reframe listing the most likely strategies for achieving 1, 2 or 3 above.

Many PWME describe the stress that being ill with ME adds to their lives. It should be clear that worries and fears about illness can therefore create a feedback loop of increasing experience of stress and illness. There is no easy solution to this. MEMap is designed to put a definite boundary or Frame around difficult issues to clarify them and keep them in perspective. It may be useful to describe worries and fears in a Frame when you experience them. Then at an easier moment, create a Reframe stating your opposing, more optimistic, beliefs about getting better, or how specific instances of fear proved unfounded.

Despite trying, it was impossible to escape it: wherever one looks, practitioners of nearly all varieties, and some ME recoverers, seem inclined to mention an ME 'A' type personality or a simple ME personality type. Though some research does exist to back up this anecdotal evidence, some of the methods and conclusions made bear little real scrutiny (often plain silliness emanates from scientifically trained professionals).

Nevertheless MEMap's job IS to respond to observed trends, so this one has to be taken on too. It seems entirely unnecessary to stigmatise or praise PWME by ascribing character traits to us. Instead, surely all but the tiniest minority of human beings would appear to possess personality traits of some sort which, in given circumstances, will add greater or lesser stress to situations they face. Given the need for PWME to avoid stressors to the utmost degree, it probably is necessary to ask our friends to help spot - or scan ourselves for - where we are most likely to place stress upon ourselves.

What's your fix? Are you, were you, an adrenaline junkie, a high achiever, a worrier, a perfectionist, self-critical, a people pleaser, an indecisive procrastinator, a poor time manager, someone who likes to be in control? Have you habitually been the one who cares for others (before yourself)? One practitioner insists we ask how good you are at doing the kind thing for yourself.

Whatever your unique fix, it will probably be helpful to recognise it, befriend it, and ask it to be more of a friend to you. ME recoverers and practitioners speak of a fundamental re-evaluation of who they were as a person being, sometimes, a key enabler of recovery. For those who feel the lifestyle they lived was a partly a cause of their ME, there is often a sense that their health continued to be poor until the 'way of doing things that lead to illness' changed to a rather different way of doing things.

An illness like ME can be truly awful. Being proactive and constructive about recovery is all very well - sometimes a howl of totally unconstructive frustration will feel more natural. Sometimes the wheels come off and it is necessary to just go with the flow. Having a definite 'go to' place when the wheels fall off physically or mentally can be a better alternative than the stress of tackling every crisis anew. Building a habit of going to this same 'place' makes us quicker to see this safe haven at times when our clear thinking skills are at their least. That repetition might also be the most effective way to build a skillset for dealing with the lowest points of ME.

A 'go to' pressure valve naturally needs to be a very personal choice. But it might include a friend who accepts being a sounding board for frustration and knows you don't want helpful suggestions. Or an activity to express the physical feelings of frustration or despair. Or giving up trying and diving under the covers - or simply being very nice to yourself - until you bounce back.

People with ME often report, and ME recoverers frequently feel they have successfully tackled, a sense of feeling tired but absolutely wired. When trying to be at rest, it seems there is a feeling that their 'system' still seems to be 'on', overworking, overstimulated. Various theories have been attached to these reported sensations. Terms you may have heard include: being stuck in fight or flight mode, autonomic dysfunction, dysfunctional hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis, limbic system dysfunction, arousal of the sympathetic nervous system or amygdala.

Practitioners and commentators often refer to the 'general adaptation syndrome' identified 80 years ago by Selye which appears to have withstood the test of time. A simple description may ring bells for some PWME: at stage 1 a stressful event releases cortisone and adrenaline in an aroused fight or flight response. At stage 2 unchecked repeated stress causes a process of adaptation as the body gets more permanently into a state of arousal. Though the adaptation can be fairly successful, health suffers, warning signals may have been ignored. At stage 3, the adaptation breaks down, and health crashes.

There are various theories and research about where ME may fit into this kind of process. And they certainly don't exclude a part for viral stressors, environmental toxins, a traumatic event or a build up of lifestyle stress. But it is not the role of MEMap to make any conclusions about all this.

Instead for the purposes of MEMap, it may be helpful to imagine we have an 'ON' knob which at any point will be set somewhere between 0 and... 11. Even though we may have done little or nothing to put the knob at its current setting, it may be possible to monitor it, accrue wisdom about it, and find workable ways to ease it downwards. It can be handy to think of your physical energy, your mental energy and your breathing as 3 partners that work together. If one of them is racing ahead of where the others need to be, what might bring it back? ME recoverers sometimes report a journey of self-discovery here that is far more interesting than they expected. Some recoverers clearly feel they have coached themselves to soften their sense of arousal. By opting in to the next category ('Interrupting' stress, illness or anything) your App will be configured to give a flavour of this kind of coaching. Alternatively, the full range of self-awareness, calming and anti-stress techniques generally available may help soften any arousal identified.

Some ME recoverers clearly feel they have alleviated many of their symptoms by interrupting - continuously acting to try to stop or break away from - things they variously describe as:- Unconscious stress responses. Feelings of being stressed and/or overstimulated. Stressors like fear or negative thinking about symptoms, or being self-critical and lacking self-nurture. And even the physical or mental sensations of illness.
NHS consultants MeMap has spoken to have clearly seen a common process and success in some of their patients which has sparked their interest. It is simplistic and unscientific to generalise this anecdotal evidence into conclusions about the nature of ME for those beyond the subset of PWME who report this success. But equally it would be neglectful to ignore evidence on what has worked for some:-

Science does indicate that the human brain has huge 'plasticity'. In simple terms this means that habits which people keep, tend to establish pathways in the brain. If we repeatedly keep new habits they can increasingly establish their own pathways, partly at the expense of the old pathways associated with the old habits those new habits 'replace'. This is uncontroversial stuff. Irrespective of ME, if we regularly, consciously interrupt feelings or thoughts we don't want, and suggest a clear alternative pathway or habit to the brain, we may succeed in positively diverting those feelings and thoughts. And succeed in encouraging pathways in the brain that match them. Does this relate to ME more than anything else humans might want to change? At MeMap we genuinely have no idea, and know of no science which indicates it does. But the potential to 'feel better' and differently clearly exists in ME and elsewhere.

In simple terms, the thinking of various practitioners tends to be that if an unconscious stress response has been wired into the brain, then regular conscious intervention to interrupt or break that wiring will degrade its impact on clients. This seems perfectly plausible. However, hopefully the previous paragraph indicates that it is not necessary to buy into this idea of an interruptible stress response to see the wider possibilities for 'interrupting' the day as a means to create change. Therefore MEMap is designed to offer you some flavour of the positive change ME recoverers report, without pretending we have any understanding of how much science will ultimately come to back up the theories practitioners have proposed.

By opting in to this category your MEMap will contain a written and audio guide to give you a flavour of how it might be like to try to interrupt arousal, stress, feelings of illness or anything you would prefer not to be thinking or feeling. The aim is to give you MEMap's own broad brush take: a safe introductory flavour of what others have done. Like everyone else we call this the Stop Process. It is a process which predates any usage in ME: all it really is, is a simple definite way to tell our body, feelings, conscious mind and unconscious mind that we want to end the chapter of something we are not too keen on, so we can re-focus and start the kind of chapter we prefer.

For those who find even the most benign version of the Stop Process troubling, NOT opting into this category will remove materials relating to it from your MEMap. There is some difficult history with this process, you won't be alone in doing that.

Either as a genuine replenishing antidote to ME, or simply as an appropriate response to stress, fatigue or limited mental resources, many ME recoverers report that regular use of a relaxation technique was central to their improvement. In addition to the reported benefits to physical and psychological health, deep relaxation seems to create an excellent reference point of better more balanced energy for PWME to set against their symptoms. Relaxation is a skill - like dancing. The better our skills, the more they will grace, consciously and subconsciously, the parts of the day when we are doing other things. Building a space in ourselves which comes to 'know' the most profound sense of calm and peace is undoubtedly for some a beautiful life transforming process. Which relaxation technique? The one you like will always be the easiest to stick with...

For PWME who don't maintain a relaxation practice - or feel they can't - a question. Do the lifestyle, activities, discomfort with stillness or likes and dislikes that keep you from relaxation actually contain a very good reason why a regular relaxation practice may be very helpful?

Relaxation should be part of a greater whole. If your body or mind feels agitated, or you feel that something is eating at you when you are trying to relax, this may be a pretty good sign that some more direct way to express that stuff needs to be found before relaxation is attempted. Some with ME have made good progress with complementary therapies intended to tackle deep (or profound) body or muscle tension or trauma. 'Bodywork' is often administered hands on by a practitioner. Recoverers have also reported quite transformational experiences after following protocols offered in books for releasing deep bodily tension or 'trauma'. In all cases, treading wisely and gently, and in consultation with your GP, is strongly advised.

Since we do it all the time, breathing could be seen as the master controller of relaxation. ME recoverers report the value of a range of breathing protocols. Some of these seem to completely contradict one another - so no explicit mentions here. But it is safe to say that getting the breathing running smoothly in the background, so that any habit of hyperventilation tends to be naturally outmanoeuvred, potentially offers deep rewards. You're probably the best judge of the technique or tutor that may help you achieve this. Pausing a couple of times a day to notice how well your breath is nourishing your energy might just be the most time/effort/cost effective tool for ME.