Cultural values & CFIDS. . - Shorts - Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Chrisitianity, & Culture - book review

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients,  July, 2003  by Jule Klotter

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Cultural values affect the well-being of people with disabling illness, says anthropologist James M. Rotholz, PhD in his book Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Chrisitianity, & Culture (Haworth Medical Press: New York; ISBN 0-7890-1493-9). Dr. Rotholz, who identifies himself as a devout Christian, had his own career stymied by chronic fatigue syndrome and immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS). His wife developed the illness first in 1991. Dr. Rotholz incorrectly believed, like so many who have lived or worked with people with CFIDS, that his wife simply needed to exert will power to 'snap out of it.' When he began experiencing incapacitating symptoms of the same illness in 1996, he found himself incapable of working and supporting his wife and children. He learned for himself that "[t]he vast array of disabling symptoms, usually leaves sufferers in shock and disbelief at the disparity between their lives prior to and after the advent of the illness."

Being unable to work caused Dr. Rotholz to face a crisis of identity and self-worth and a crisis of faith. He found himself wrestling with questions: "Who was I now? What value did I have if I could not actively participate in the world around me? How would others view me, especially those who knew me when I was active and healthy? What was God up to in all this and why did he allow this illness to upend my life?" As an anthropologist, Dr. Rotholz came to realize that cultural expectations and values concerning 'success' place an added burden on people with CFIDS. In our culture, the elements of success include achievement, recognition or status, power, and wealth. People with illnesses like CFIDS do not have the energy to take part in the culturally-driven competition for success; and this inability can lead to feelings of powerlessness, low self-worth, and isolation.

Dr. Rotholz argues that the US fixation on success needs to be supplanted by a "nonjudgmental attitude toward others [that perceives] value in all human beings, regardless of their circumstances." For him this means embracing Christian values, which is a primary thesis in his book. As an example of how values affect the way communities treat the ill and disabled, he refers to the Christian-based Bruderhof communities, which exist in the United States, England, and Paraguay. Instead of individual achievement, the members follow Biblical principles and seek to serve the community and the needs of others first. Because of their cultural view, they see the old and disabled as "an indispensable part of a holistic and healthy community life."

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