I am in a unique position to convince skeptics that CFS is real. Where to start?
I am a disability lawyer. I have a sub speciality in CFS denials. Our firm works only on a contingency, so we only make money if I actually recover benefits for my clients, including those with CFS.
Thus, I examine every case carefully, and stake my entire financial existence on these cases being not only REAL, but proveable. And I'm still standing. Further, many cases depend on whether someone is disabled from mental health issues or physical issues, and I've argued successfully dozens of times that CFS is a physical disability with a physical source.
Why am I sharing this? I find it infuriating that the general public, let alone physicians, still doubt the reality of this illness. It pisses me off when I read stories on this sub, and it REALLY pisses me off when my clients have to jump through all kinds of hoops to find a decent medical professional who understands the disease, let alone believes it.
I want to direct this frustrated energy into something positive. Does anybody have suggestions or ideas of groups of people who might actually care about what I have to say?
I would also love to speak to non-skeptical groups if they wanted to hear my perspective. I just feel the need to do something.
Happy Monday all and thank you in advance for reading this.
3/14 Edit: These responses were so fantastic, thank you all for your contributions. The first thing I'm going to do is make a video. Admittedly, it will be a promotional video for my firm along with other videos I make for LTD claims for marketing purposes. So I can't claim altruism. That said, I did convince the partners to let me get a "little bit" political with my videos. Thus, I plan to make two videos. One will be a comment on Elon Musk's "parasite class" tweet about social security, which my blood BOIL. The next will be a video on the topic at hand - why CFS and Long Covid are real, and why any stigma about these conditions should be completely rejected. Since I'm using firm resources, these videos will obviously have a primary marketing purpose. That said, these are the first videos which I think will have just as much valuie for people not directly facing these issues, and may serve some greater purpose.
Further, if anybody here is in need of a speaker about disability, please reach out. One of my favorite interviews was when I was interviewed on the spoonie struggle podcast a few years back. https://thespooniestruggle.libsyn.com/disability-law-with-guest-andrew-kantor
I love doing this stuff, really. I've spoken to small patient groups, support groups, and large organizations. I consider it one of the best ways to spend my time.