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When Harvard Ph.D. student Jennifer Brea is struck down by a fever that leaves her bedridden, she sets out on a virtual journey to document her story as she fights a disease that medicine forgot.
Director: Jennifer Brea
Share this film. UNREST is an important voice for millions suffering from ME and a vulnerable and eloquent personal documentary that is sure to hit closer to home than many could imagine.
Share your story of chronic fatigue syndrome in an effort to raise awareness about ME. Post a picture of yourself holding a sign with “It’s #TimeforUnrest because…” sign and use the #TimeforUnrest hashtag.
Advocate for those afflicted by signing petitions calling for more research and funding for ME.
Make a donation to UNREST to help bring the film to medical schools, leading research institutions, and communities around the world.
Volunteer with #MEAction, as they are always looking for patient volunteers and healthy ME allies to join their cause to help get the word out.
In this poignant talk, Brea describes the obstacles she’s encountered in seeking treatment for her condition, whose root causes and physical effects we don’t fully understand, as well as her mission to document through film the lives of patients that medicine struggles to treat.
Watch Jennifer Brea’s TED Talk.
“It is about people who are reduced to shadow existences, but, moreover, because it shows how enigmatic disorders can become veritable battle zones where medical specialties fight over territory, and where patients and doctors fight over the proper treatment approach.”
Continue reading on #MEaction.
#MEAction is an international network of patients empowering each other to fight for health equality for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. They empower patients advocates and organizations, wherever they might be, with the technological tools and training to do what they are already doing – better.
Visit the #MEAction website and take action!
“Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), commonly known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) or ME/CFS, is a devastating multi-system disease that causes dysfunction of the neurological, immune, endocrine and energy metabolism systems. It often follows an infection and leaves 75% of those affected unable to work and 25% homebound are bedridden. An estimated 15-30 million people worldwide have ME.”
Continue reading on Unrest’s Official Website.
“People with ME/CFS are often not able to do their usual activities. At times, ME/CFS may confine them to bed. People with ME/CFS have overwhelming fatigue that is not improved by rest. ME/CFS may get worse after any activity, whether it’s physical or mental.”
Learn more from CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
#TIMEFORUNREST was a Kickstarter-campaign to launch Unrest and bring it to medical schools, labs, foundations, halls of government, and communities around the world.
Visit the successfully funded campaign on Kickstarter.
“…part of the reason that this community has remained hidden is because not only are they literally hidden behind closed doors and in bedrooms, but because you really need to see the visual image in order to be able to understand what it’s really like.’”
Continue reading on The Verge.
Read the review article on the academic publisher Frontiers.
Read the summary of the latest science from 9,000 separate studies in the 2015 report provided by #MEAction.
"It powerfully insists on giving a voice to victims whose greatest challenge, apart from their symptoms, is surmounting a world of indifference."
The New York Times, Daniel M. Gold
"This is jaw-dropping stuff, made more profoundly disturbing by the fact that so little is known about the disease."
RogerEbert.com, Glenn Kenny
"Jennifer Brea's documentary about her struggles with the disease is an emotional window into its impact on her marriage, but it also looks beyond her own story."
IndieWire, Eric Kohn
"Using her own experience with the syndrome as a springboard, Brea offers an affecting film."
The Hollywood Reporter, John DeFore
