Why this book exists
A focused place to understand what is happening
Elspeth is forty-four, and nine years ago she was a secondary school teacher who ran half marathons. Last Tuesday she attended her nephew's christening. She was there for two hours, she sat down for most of it, and she was pleased with herself afterwards because she had managed it. On Thursday she could not lift her head off the pillow. By Friday her throat was raw, her legs ached as though she had been beaten, her thoughts would not assemble into sentences, and the light through the curtains was unbearable. She stayed in bed, mostly in the dark, for eleven days. That is what two hours in a church cost her, and the bill did not arrive until the day after next. This is the thing almost nobody outside the illness understands. Elspeth is not tired..
The writing is designed to reduce shame, bring the underlying pattern into view and give you practical ways to respond without pretending that every life follows the same formula.
