Review of Unrest (2017) by Snoopysue — 04 Oct 2017

Jen Brea was a student at Harvard when her life was devastated by a disease no doctor could diagnose. Due to a misdiagnosis of "Conversion Disorder" (a modern medical term for hysteria) by her neurologist, she ignored her body's warnings that something was physically wrong. Walking home from the doctor she collapsed and spent more than 2 years in bed suffering from crushing fatigue, inability to care for herself, and neurologic and cognitive issues. She created a video diary that led to this documentary which includes several skype interviews with other patients and researchers.

In the US the disease is often called "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" (CFS) but in the UK and much of Europe, it is called "Myalgic Encephalomyelitis" (ME) and now goes by the acronym ME/CFS (or CFS/ME).

At first, Brea thought she had a rare disease but through social media finds that millions around the world are also suffering like she is. At least one million in the US are sick with no treatment options available. The disease's stigma (often viewed as a mental health disorder) within the medical field as well as government health organizations and the general public have made it nearly impossible for medical research to move forward. (Since the documentary's release, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded several Centers of Excellence millions to research the biomedical cause of ME/CFS and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has removed Graded Exercise Therapy (GET) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) as treatments from its website. The CDC has also changed the name from CFS to ME/CFS. These organizations are responding to the Institutes of Medicine's (IOM) 2015 report on ME/CFS.).

'Unrest' chronicles not just the disease and its impact on those afflicted but the close and loving relationship with Jen Brea and her husband Omar Wasow, her caretaker, and how their professional goals and personal relationship have had to evolve.