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Reviews
Unrest (2017)
Hysteria Has Always Been The Go-to Diagnosis For Seemingly Unexplained Health Symptoms, Especially For Women
What I appreciated most about 'Unrest' is that you see Jen, who turns the camera on herself to document her illness, has the same symptoms that were filmed many decades ago of women collapsing, fainting, and becoming catatonic which were attributed to hysteria. Throughout medical history, women who experienced unexplained health symptoms have often been labeled with mental health disorders and it continues to this day. I have had ME/CFS (formally diagnosed and disabled under Social Security with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) before the Incline Village outbreak. I have seen many documentaries, film shorts, and read many media and blog posts about my disease but none have the accuracy coupled with a moving personal struggle story as 'Unrest'.
When AIDS was first being reported on by the media, I remember one patient being interviewed talking about his disease. Just by looking at him you could see he was dying and was ravaged by the disease. Just behind him on the wall was a photo of him as his former handsome self. But because ME/CFS patients are never seen at their worst, not by their doctors, most family or friends, it is difficult to grasp just what is happening to them. The striking video and photos of Jen as her former self and those you will see as she is now will help viewers to understand the toll this disease has taken on her and many living with ME/CFS around the world.
The disease name is Myalgic Encephalomyelitis but known to most as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, hence the ME/CFS acronym. Patients suffer from a myriad of chronic health symptoms that fluctuate in severity for the patient and differ in symptoms and severity from patient to patient. 25% are considered to be severely ill who can be bed or wheelchair bound or home or all but home-bound while others may only be able to work part-time struggling to do much more than that. Others may be able to work full time but at great sacrifice to their families and unable to do much socially.
The hallmark symptom, Post-exertion Malaise (PEM) (the worsening of symptoms) is the result of a person with ME/CFS exerting them self physically or cognitively and due to Jen's severe form of the disease can result in her collapsing, fainting or going through a neurological meltdown. Each patient has different thresholds of what they can do before they exert them self and increase their symptoms. Some may only have friends over to overexert them self, others working a few more hours at work, and still, others can do so with just a shower. While many do not experience the severe crash Jen does, most experience some sort of crash and increase their fatigue and weakness.