Katharine Cheston
@kacheston.bsky.social
Researching “the greatest medical scandal of the 21st century”. Infection-Associated Chronic Illness, activism, stigma, medical humanities. Postdoctoral fellow in Sociology.
Reposted by Katharine Cheston
We recently launched our Big Survey! 🎉
We’ve already had over 2000 responses - thank you to everyone who’s taken part so far 🧡
Take part, read our FAQs, and find out more here: www.actionforme.org.uk/research-campaigns/our-research-work/big-survey/
We’ve already had over 2000 responses - thank you to everyone who’s taken part so far 🧡
Take part, read our FAQs, and find out more here: www.actionforme.org.uk/research-campaigns/our-research-work/big-survey/
October 31, 2025 at 10:03 AM
We recently launched our Big Survey! 🎉
We’ve already had over 2000 responses - thank you to everyone who’s taken part so far 🧡
Take part, read our FAQs, and find out more here: www.actionforme.org.uk/research-campaigns/our-research-work/big-survey/
We’ve already had over 2000 responses - thank you to everyone who’s taken part so far 🧡
Take part, read our FAQs, and find out more here: www.actionforme.org.uk/research-campaigns/our-research-work/big-survey/
Reposted by Katharine Cheston
🎉 We are delighted to launch this year’s Big Survey in collaboration with @actionforme.bsky.social! If you are in the UK living with ME or Long Covid with ME symptoms, we want to hear from you! tinyurl.com/2s4dbrkx
🧵
🧵
2025 Big Survey
Find out how you can contribute to our 2025 Big Survey - a vital research project aiming to illustrate the impact of ME and long Covid.
tinyurl.com
October 13, 2025 at 1:53 PM
🎉 We are delighted to launch this year’s Big Survey in collaboration with @actionforme.bsky.social! If you are in the UK living with ME or Long Covid with ME symptoms, we want to hear from you! tinyurl.com/2s4dbrkx
🧵
🧵
Reposted by Katharine Cheston
ME and ME-like symptoms affect approximately 1.35 million people in the UK.
Find out how @kacheston.bsky.social, from our Department of Sociology and @durhamimh.bsky.social, is collaborating with @actionforme.bsky.social to understand the impact of this condition: www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/...
Find out how @kacheston.bsky.social, from our Department of Sociology and @durhamimh.bsky.social, is collaborating with @actionforme.bsky.social to understand the impact of this condition: www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/...
October 13, 2025 at 1:38 PM
ME and ME-like symptoms affect approximately 1.35 million people in the UK.
Find out how @kacheston.bsky.social, from our Department of Sociology and @durhamimh.bsky.social, is collaborating with @actionforme.bsky.social to understand the impact of this condition: www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/...
Find out how @kacheston.bsky.social, from our Department of Sociology and @durhamimh.bsky.social, is collaborating with @actionforme.bsky.social to understand the impact of this condition: www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/...
The Big Survey is now live!
It has been such a privilege to get to work on this with such a wonderful, inspiring team at @actionforme.bsky.social, including our brilliant Patient and Public Involvement Group, made up of people with lived experience of ME and Long Covid.
It has been such a privilege to get to work on this with such a wonderful, inspiring team at @actionforme.bsky.social, including our brilliant Patient and Public Involvement Group, made up of people with lived experience of ME and Long Covid.
Our 2025 Big Survey is now open! 🎉
For more information, our FAQs, and to take part, head to our web page: www.actionforme.org.uk/research-campaigns/our-research-work/big-survey/
Thank you for supporting our research💙
🤝in collaboration with
@durhamimh.bsky.social @kacheston.bsky.social
For more information, our FAQs, and to take part, head to our web page: www.actionforme.org.uk/research-campaigns/our-research-work/big-survey/
Thank you for supporting our research💙
🤝in collaboration with
@durhamimh.bsky.social @kacheston.bsky.social
October 13, 2025 at 10:30 AM
The Big Survey is now live!
It has been such a privilege to get to work on this with such a wonderful, inspiring team at @actionforme.bsky.social, including our brilliant Patient and Public Involvement Group, made up of people with lived experience of ME and Long Covid.
It has been such a privilege to get to work on this with such a wonderful, inspiring team at @actionforme.bsky.social, including our brilliant Patient and Public Involvement Group, made up of people with lived experience of ME and Long Covid.
Reposted by Katharine Cheston
UK Action for ME Big Survey 2025
The 5 yearly survey of people in the UK with ME/CFS will open on Monday 13th October. It has been developed by AfME in collaboration with @kacheston.bsky.social Dr Katherine Cheston at Durham University.
www.actionforme.org.uk/research-cam...
#MEcfs #PwME #CFS
The 5 yearly survey of people in the UK with ME/CFS will open on Monday 13th October. It has been developed by AfME in collaboration with @kacheston.bsky.social Dr Katherine Cheston at Durham University.
www.actionforme.org.uk/research-cam...
#MEcfs #PwME #CFS
2025 Big Survey
Find out how you can contribute to our 2025 Big Survey - a vital research project aiming to illustrate the impact of ME and long Covid.
www.actionforme.org.uk
October 12, 2025 at 12:31 PM
UK Action for ME Big Survey 2025
The 5 yearly survey of people in the UK with ME/CFS will open on Monday 13th October. It has been developed by AfME in collaboration with @kacheston.bsky.social Dr Katherine Cheston at Durham University.
www.actionforme.org.uk/research-cam...
#MEcfs #PwME #CFS
The 5 yearly survey of people in the UK with ME/CFS will open on Monday 13th October. It has been developed by AfME in collaboration with @kacheston.bsky.social Dr Katherine Cheston at Durham University.
www.actionforme.org.uk/research-cam...
#MEcfs #PwME #CFS
An incredibly moving post:
"I have spent the vast majority of my 20s in bed and alone in the darkness and silence"
"I have spent the vast majority of my 20s in bed and alone in the darkness and silence"
October 10, 2025 at 6:06 PM
An incredibly moving post:
"I have spent the vast majority of my 20s in bed and alone in the darkness and silence"
"I have spent the vast majority of my 20s in bed and alone in the darkness and silence"
Reposted by Katharine Cheston
Our first Big Survey in over 5 years launches next week! You can sign up in advance to receive the survey once it's live, head to our web page to find out more: www.actionforme.org.uk/research-cam...
📅Opens 10am, Monday 13th October - 27th January 2026
📅Opens 10am, Monday 13th October - 27th January 2026
October 9, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Our first Big Survey in over 5 years launches next week! You can sign up in advance to receive the survey once it's live, head to our web page to find out more: www.actionforme.org.uk/research-cam...
📅Opens 10am, Monday 13th October - 27th January 2026
📅Opens 10am, Monday 13th October - 27th January 2026
This year, I've been lucky enough to work with @actionforme.bsky.social, as part of a collaboration between Action for ME and @durhamimh.bsky.social. (More on this soon!)
For now, this reflective post explains my motivations - and what I believe a collaborative, cross-sector approach can achieve.
For now, this reflective post explains my motivations - and what I believe a collaborative, cross-sector approach can achieve.
Katharine Cheston reflects on her own experience of ME and the need for a more caring, curious, and compassionate approach to health research.
thepolyphony.org/2025/10/09/p...
thepolyphony.org/2025/10/09/p...
Privilege and Pain: Why the Medical Humanities Matter
Katharine Cheston reflects on her own experience of ME and the need for a more caring, curious, and compassionate approach to health research.
thepolyphony.org
October 9, 2025 at 1:20 PM
This year, I've been lucky enough to work with @actionforme.bsky.social, as part of a collaboration between Action for ME and @durhamimh.bsky.social. (More on this soon!)
For now, this reflective post explains my motivations - and what I believe a collaborative, cross-sector approach can achieve.
For now, this reflective post explains my motivations - and what I believe a collaborative, cross-sector approach can achieve.
My favourite bit of gardening* is when you get to eat the literal fruits of your own neglect and incompetence.
*Gardening as currently consists of negotiating the obstacle course around giant overgrown fig tree I have failed to work out how to prune for the second year running…
*Gardening as currently consists of negotiating the obstacle course around giant overgrown fig tree I have failed to work out how to prune for the second year running…
August 19, 2025 at 8:05 PM
My favourite bit of gardening* is when you get to eat the literal fruits of your own neglect and incompetence.
*Gardening as currently consists of negotiating the obstacle course around giant overgrown fig tree I have failed to work out how to prune for the second year running…
*Gardening as currently consists of negotiating the obstacle course around giant overgrown fig tree I have failed to work out how to prune for the second year running…
Limping towards two weeks of leave and my capacity to mask my Wiltshire accent has reached new lows. Apologies in advance to anyone I’m meeting this week…
August 18, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Limping towards two weeks of leave and my capacity to mask my Wiltshire accent has reached new lows. Apologies in advance to anyone I’m meeting this week…
Reposted by Katharine Cheston
Given the huge clinical need, we look to the ME policy reboot with interest…yet weary and battle-scarred by decades of disingenuous policy proposals that always left an orphan specialty of under-funded, under-researched post infectious sequelae
July 22, 2025 at 4:55 AM
Given the huge clinical need, we look to the ME policy reboot with interest…yet weary and battle-scarred by decades of disingenuous policy proposals that always left an orphan specialty of under-funded, under-researched post infectious sequelae
Reposted by Katharine Cheston
@bmj.com's dangerous & inconsistent approach to #ME + long Covid resembles psych propaganda more than balanced reporting (notwithstanding the "Opinion" header), especially in relation to Professor Paul Garner's long covid "journey", as described in my 2021 post valerieeliotsmith.com/2021/02/01/p...
The BMJ has now published my rapid response to Miller et al's Opinion piece.
www.bmj.com/content/389/...
www.bmj.com/content/389/...
May 16, 2025 at 9:37 AM
@bmj.com's dangerous & inconsistent approach to #ME + long Covid resembles psych propaganda more than balanced reporting (notwithstanding the "Opinion" header), especially in relation to Professor Paul Garner's long covid "journey", as described in my 2021 post valerieeliotsmith.com/2021/02/01/p...
The BMJ has now published my rapid response to Miller et al's Opinion piece.
www.bmj.com/content/389/...
www.bmj.com/content/389/...
May 16, 2025 at 8:58 AM
The BMJ has now published my rapid response to Miller et al's Opinion piece.
www.bmj.com/content/389/...
www.bmj.com/content/389/...
Reposted by Katharine Cheston
‚What did harm my mental wellbeing (…) were the beliefs that others held about me and my illness: that I could get better, if only I reframed my own thoughts, or did more exercise, or exercised in a different way, or stopped focusing on my symptoms.‘
#LongCovid
#ME
#LongCovid
#ME
I've submitted a rapid response to this BMJ Opinion piece - speaking from my dual experience as both researcher and 'recovered ME/CFS patient' (not a term I'd choose to employ).
May 15, 2025 at 6:38 PM
‚What did harm my mental wellbeing (…) were the beliefs that others held about me and my illness: that I could get better, if only I reframed my own thoughts, or did more exercise, or exercised in a different way, or stopped focusing on my symptoms.‘
#LongCovid
#ME
#LongCovid
#ME
I've submitted a rapid response to this BMJ Opinion piece - speaking from my dual experience as both researcher and 'recovered ME/CFS patient' (not a term I'd choose to employ).
![Beliefs about ME/CFS can shape lives
Dear Editor,
Last year, I completed a Wellcome-funded PhD exploring women’s experiences of ‘medically unexplained symptoms’ (MUS), a category into which ME/CFS is typically subsumed. During my PhD, I had the privilege of interviewing women living with illnesses including ME/CFS.
My interest in ME/CFS is both professional and personal. In September 2008, around my fifteenth birthday, I caught a ‘flu-like virus. My health deteriorated sharply and I was diagnosed with ME/CFS in January 2009; my teenage years and early twenties were shaped by different kinds of formative experiences. In February 2016, I caught another ‘flu-like virus. To my intense and enduring surprise, my ME/CFS symptoms disappeared. They have not returned.
While Dr Miller and colleagues argue that ‘[r]eframing beliefs about illness, along with specialist rehabilitation, can help recovery in people with severe ME/CFS’,[1] my recovery did not involve any of these factors. It simply happened. My health has changed drastically, but my beliefs about the illness and its causes have remained steadfast since 2008.
In 2013, after four years unwell and a return to severe illness, I came to believe that I would not recover. This belief did not harm my mental wellbeing, contra to the claims of Dr Miller and colleagues.[1] What did harm my mental wellbeing - to such a significant extent that I have since needed professional support to move forwards - were the beliefs that others held about me and my illness: that I could get better, if only I reframed my own thoughts, or did more exercise, or exercised in a different way, or stopped focusing on my symptoms. In short, the belief that there was a ‘path’ to recovery (as Dr Miller and colleagues put it),[1] if only I chose to search for it.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) no longer recommends therapies based on deconditioning and exercise avoidance theories as perpetuating ME/CFS,[2] recognisin…](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:tfndvthrcq3sux7rpoz5beef/bafkreieqlzwmnerovslptiot6af6fxam2xpf4dzxrs64ec5ifxcflesy3u@jpeg)
May 15, 2025 at 4:45 PM
I've submitted a rapid response to this BMJ Opinion piece - speaking from my dual experience as both researcher and 'recovered ME/CFS patient' (not a term I'd choose to employ).
Reposted by Katharine Cheston
@thetimes.com: Scientists call for research hubs to solve mystery of ME.
The article discusses the importance of government investment in ME research and features Action for ME Chief Executive, Sonya.
You can read the full article (paywalled) here 👇
www.thetimes.com/article/cc88...
The article discusses the importance of government investment in ME research and features Action for ME Chief Executive, Sonya.
You can read the full article (paywalled) here 👇
www.thetimes.com/article/cc88...
April 28, 2025 at 9:23 AM
@thetimes.com: Scientists call for research hubs to solve mystery of ME.
The article discusses the importance of government investment in ME research and features Action for ME Chief Executive, Sonya.
You can read the full article (paywalled) here 👇
www.thetimes.com/article/cc88...
The article discusses the importance of government investment in ME research and features Action for ME Chief Executive, Sonya.
You can read the full article (paywalled) here 👇
www.thetimes.com/article/cc88...
Reposted by Katharine Cheston
In the latest of our new practice research series, Alec Finlay explores the issue of belief in contested chronic illness through poetic subversion of NHS fatigue questionnaires.
thepolyphony.org/2025/04/24/p...
thepolyphony.org/2025/04/24/p...
Practice Research and Chronic Illness: ‘Fatigue Questionnaires’
Alec Finlay explores medical fatigue questionnaires through ‘subversion by means of soft poetics’.
thepolyphony.org
April 24, 2025 at 9:47 AM
In the latest of our new practice research series, Alec Finlay explores the issue of belief in contested chronic illness through poetic subversion of NHS fatigue questionnaires.
thepolyphony.org/2025/04/24/p...
thepolyphony.org/2025/04/24/p...
I've just signed this open letter in support of an ambitious proposal that would transform the ME/CFS research landscape.
The case of ME/CFS evidences, I believe, how health research can fail - illuminating the (all-too-human) barriers to curiosity-driven research, & how story can override science.
The case of ME/CFS evidences, I believe, how health research can fail - illuminating the (all-too-human) barriers to curiosity-driven research, & how story can override science.
Brilliant new initiative from some of the foremost #MECFS researchers in the UK, proposing 5 biomedical research hubs, 5 years of funding, in order to start finally getting some justice for #pwME and #LongCovid.
Please sign here: organise.network/s/5fe85dfdc26e to show your support, & share widely!
Please sign here: organise.network/s/5fe85dfdc26e to show your support, & share widely!
A proposal for an ME/CFS, Long Covid, and Post-Infectious Disease research platform - ME/CFS Priority Setting Partnership
A new campaign has been launched today by Action for ME, ME Research UK and the ME Association based on the work of a group of academics, practitioners, clinicians, charity representatives and people ...
psp-me.co.uk
April 22, 2025 at 4:47 PM
I've just signed this open letter in support of an ambitious proposal that would transform the ME/CFS research landscape.
The case of ME/CFS evidences, I believe, how health research can fail - illuminating the (all-too-human) barriers to curiosity-driven research, & how story can override science.
The case of ME/CFS evidences, I believe, how health research can fail - illuminating the (all-too-human) barriers to curiosity-driven research, & how story can override science.
A deeply moving post by an anon contributor to the #ThereforME campaign:
'I will never forget stumbling out of that appointment feeling manipulated, humiliated and traumatised [...] It has left scars; I avoid the NHS as far as humanly possible and struggle to trust clinicians.'
'I will never forget stumbling out of that appointment feeling manipulated, humiliated and traumatised [...] It has left scars; I avoid the NHS as far as humanly possible and struggle to trust clinicians.'
April 15, 2025 at 10:35 AM
A deeply moving post by an anon contributor to the #ThereforME campaign:
'I will never forget stumbling out of that appointment feeling manipulated, humiliated and traumatised [...] It has left scars; I avoid the NHS as far as humanly possible and struggle to trust clinicians.'
'I will never forget stumbling out of that appointment feeling manipulated, humiliated and traumatised [...] It has left scars; I avoid the NHS as far as humanly possible and struggle to trust clinicians.'
Reposted by Katharine Cheston
🚀 Delighted to announce the publication of our new #MedHums101 brochure: ‘What is Medical Humanities?’ We hope it sparks your imagination, inspires your curiosity & encourages you to engage in our vibrant interdisciplinary field! tinyurl.com/what-is-med-...
Med Hums 101: What is Medical Humanities?
The Polyphony is delighted to launch the publication of a new brochure – MedHums 101: What is medical humanities?
tinyurl.com
March 31, 2025 at 11:10 AM
🚀 Delighted to announce the publication of our new #MedHums101 brochure: ‘What is Medical Humanities?’ We hope it sparks your imagination, inspires your curiosity & encourages you to engage in our vibrant interdisciplinary field! tinyurl.com/what-is-med-...
Reposted by Katharine Cheston
Sharing 2 new actions by the Independent Advisory Group on the Cochrane review on exercise & #ME/CFS:
Comment submitted on the Cochrane review: hbprojecttalk.wordpress.com/2025/03/13/i...
Submission to the Cochrane Library Editorial Board: hbprojecttalk.wordpress.com/2025/03/13/i...
...
Comment submitted on the Cochrane review: hbprojecttalk.wordpress.com/2025/03/13/i...
Submission to the Cochrane Library Editorial Board: hbprojecttalk.wordpress.com/2025/03/13/i...
...
Independent Advisory Group: Comment on the Cochrane exercise review
Today, the Independent Advisory Group (IAG) submitted the comment below on the Cochrane exercise and CFS review to The Cochrane Library. If/when it is published, we will add the link to this post. …
hbprojecttalk.wordpress.com
March 12, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Sharing 2 new actions by the Independent Advisory Group on the Cochrane review on exercise & #ME/CFS:
Comment submitted on the Cochrane review: hbprojecttalk.wordpress.com/2025/03/13/i...
Submission to the Cochrane Library Editorial Board: hbprojecttalk.wordpress.com/2025/03/13/i...
...
Comment submitted on the Cochrane review: hbprojecttalk.wordpress.com/2025/03/13/i...
Submission to the Cochrane Library Editorial Board: hbprojecttalk.wordpress.com/2025/03/13/i...
...
Are there any sociological studies of the figure of Paddington Bear in contemporary British culture?!
One example, from this weekend in Newbury: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
One example, from this weekend in Newbury: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Two arrested as Newbury's stolen Paddington statue recovered
The sculpture was damaged and taken from his seat in Paddington creator Michael Bond's home town.
www.bbc.co.uk
March 4, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Are there any sociological studies of the figure of Paddington Bear in contemporary British culture?!
One example, from this weekend in Newbury: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
One example, from this weekend in Newbury: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
It was a privilege to present, with my dad, to the Psychological Sciences Research Group at UWE.
The presentation was a personal reflection on our family's experience of ME and the harm that dogmatic beliefs about the condition can cause.
uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/13780...
The presentation was a personal reflection on our family's experience of ME and the harm that dogmatic beliefs about the condition can cause.
uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/13780...
February 28, 2025 at 11:27 AM
It was a privilege to present, with my dad, to the Psychological Sciences Research Group at UWE.
The presentation was a personal reflection on our family's experience of ME and the harm that dogmatic beliefs about the condition can cause.
uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/13780...
The presentation was a personal reflection on our family's experience of ME and the harm that dogmatic beliefs about the condition can cause.
uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/13780...
Reposted by Katharine Cheston
Writing a piece about long Covid five years on for the Observer. Looking for LC patients currently experiencing symptoms to talk about their story, particularly nurses/doctors
📧 kathryn.bromwich@observer.co.uk
#journorequest #longcovid @longcovidsupport.bsky.social @longcovidadvoc.bsky.social
📧 kathryn.bromwich@observer.co.uk
#journorequest #longcovid @longcovidsupport.bsky.social @longcovidadvoc.bsky.social
February 5, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Writing a piece about long Covid five years on for the Observer. Looking for LC patients currently experiencing symptoms to talk about their story, particularly nurses/doctors
📧 kathryn.bromwich@observer.co.uk
#journorequest #longcovid @longcovidsupport.bsky.social @longcovidadvoc.bsky.social
📧 kathryn.bromwich@observer.co.uk
#journorequest #longcovid @longcovidsupport.bsky.social @longcovidadvoc.bsky.social
The Independent Advisory Group Cochrane established to 'embed a patient-focused contemporary perspective' into its update of the 2019 review of 'Exercise therapy for CFS' has published an Open Letter: hbprojecttalk.wordpress.com/2025/01/24/i...
Hilda's excellent blog post explains the context.
Hilda's excellent blog post explains the context.
January 24, 2025 at 10:45 AM
The Independent Advisory Group Cochrane established to 'embed a patient-focused contemporary perspective' into its update of the 2019 review of 'Exercise therapy for CFS' has published an Open Letter: hbprojecttalk.wordpress.com/2025/01/24/i...
Hilda's excellent blog post explains the context.
Hilda's excellent blog post explains the context.