Fed up, Frustrated and Furious.

I think these are feelings that everyone will relate to at some point in their lives, to some extent. Whether it's because you're stuck in a job you don't like, you've been ill for a week or ill for 10 years - when you feel trapped in some way, these feelings occur.

They're not a symptom of chronic illness/disability, but if you are chronically ill (by which I mean, have a long term illness) I can't imagine not feeling it at some point.

ME traps you inside your own body. No, worse than that, it traps you in bed, on a sofa, in a wheelchair or in your house. It puts huge constraints on your life. It makes just climbing the stairs feel like Mount Everest, and cooking dinner like running a marathon.

It takes your dreams and aspirations, and tips them on their head. You long to fulfil your dreams - to create, paint, write, work… But you're stuck inside this body that physically cannot  do it. And yet you look well.

And I think that when you're being stopped from fulfilling everything you wish to, an anger develops inside you. But you can't go for a run - often times you don't even have the energy to punch a pillow - and so it just sorta bubbles within you, and erupts when the fatigue overwhelms you. For me it erupts in shouting and tears - often when I'm attempting to cook dinner. For my husband it erupts when he's playing games - the frustration just surfaces.

And this is where, as a couple, you have to not take it personally. My anger is in no way an attack at him, like his anger is in no way an attack at me. It's just feelings that have to be let out. And they have to be talked about. If you know where the explosion is coming from, why it is erupting when it is, and the story behind it, you can accept it and see past it. You don't take it personally, but you give them a hug, and you help each other through it. Not being afraid to admit how much you dislike the other's anger, but understanding it nonetheless.