‘Energy Drain’, Pastel on Ingres Paper, 1994. The symptoms of ME have been well known in the field of extreme sports since the 1960s – mountaineers, single-handed yachtsmen, etc. who get into trouble and narrowly avoid death often suffer very similar symptoms. Is it all in the mind? I’ve never met a sufferer who thought it might be, though many have consulted psychiatrists and psychotherapists in desperation … without success.