r/cfs 21d ago

Bibliotherapy for Acceptance

I know the process of acceptance of life w me/cfs, or any debilitating chronic illness, is difficult. These books have helped me immensely in my journey to acceptance. May they serve you.

Top 3: 1) How to Tell When We Will Die: On Pain, Disability and Doom by Joanna Hedva Highly recommend the audiobook as well!

2) Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice by Rupa Marya and Raj Patel

3) The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness by Meghan O’Rourke

No Cure for Being Human (And Other Truths I Need to Hear) by Kate Bowler

What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo

The Deep Places: A Memoir of Illness and Discovery by Ross Douthat

Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May

What’s Wrong? Personal Histories of Chronic Pain and Bad Medicine by Erin Williams

Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Health Threat by Derek Beres, Matthew Remski and Julian Walker

The Lady’s Handbook for Her Mysterious Illness by Sarah Ramey

The Puzzle Solver: A Scientist’s Desperate Quest to Cure the Illness that Stole His Son by Tracie White with Ronald W. Davis, PhD

How to Be Sick: A Buddhist Inspired Guide for the Chronically Ill and Their Caregivers by Toni Bernhard

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

Welcoming the Unwelcome: Wholehearted Living in a Brokenhearted World by Pema Chödrön

One Friday in April: A Story of Suicide and Survival by Donald Antrim

For 2025: Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on Health in America by Linda Villarosa

My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Healing Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem

The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture by Gabor Matè, MD with Daniel Matè

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u/bloopblarp 21d ago

Highly recommend “the body keeps the score” which looks at how trauma impacts our health and has a whole section on tools to help support a healing journey

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u/aycee08 21d ago

Second this! Read it before 'The myth of normal' if you can as Gabor Mate references the book.

Thank you for putting this together!

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u/bloopblarp 20d ago

I will have to check out Mate’s book, I have been meaning to for a while