Casualties of Progress

Personal Histories from the Chemically Sensitive

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Even though researchers cannot agree on a precise definition for the condition, the stories in this collection illustrate how chemical sensitivity can destroy a productive life all too quickly. Many people with MCS are so sensitive to perfume that they virtually become prisoners in their own home, unable to go to church, work, classes, or social gatherings because they will react to the perfume, aftershave, shampoos, detergents, or fabric softeners used by others.

And to make matters worse, some of those who insist that MCS is a psychologically based illness state that these people are suffering from agoraphobia, or fear of crowds. That's tantamount to saying to a paraplegic in a wheelchair, "Too bad you don't like to walk."

Another unfortunate aspect of the psychological approach to the issue of chemical sensitivity is that critics of MCS frequently suggest that "secondary gain" is a strong component of the condition. According to secondary gain theorists, those with MCS are engaging in certain behavior patterns in order to get special attention or because they want others to take care of them. One does not have to read many of the stories in this collection before it is apparent that this suggestion at its best is made in ignorance and at worst represents an exceedingly cruel attitude toward people whose illness has in all too many cases cost them their job, their home, their friends, or their spouse. One contributor to this collection who has received remarkable support from family, friends, and employer for one brief moment dropped his attempt to be cheerful while I was interviewing him by phone and said, "My life is hell." MCS is an illness of devastating loss, not secondary gain.