“Dear all
I just thought I should inform you officially that after a long and happy association with AYME I have decided to resign as their Patron.
Without going into too much detail I would say that over the last couple of years I have become aware that they have changed their position on several areas and that our views have accordingly diverged.
In particular AYME seem to have become more willing to collaborate with the medical and psychiatric establishment in order to appear respectable.
This appears to have been the cause of AYME's relative enthusiasm for the NICE Guidelines, which most of us feel involve and an overemphasis on CBT and GET.
This compromise seems to have helped the psychiatrists to get a new lease of life.
The result of all this is that AYME appear to have alienated themselves from most of the other ME charities (with the exception of AfME who appear to be taking a similar position).
In this controversy I feel more in sympathy with the rest of you. I have gained the impression that AYME no longer appreciate my opinions and prefer my status as their figurehead to be a largely silent one.
It is a combination of all these factors that has caused me to resign and I am sure you will all understand.
With Best Wishes
Nigel Speight"
Doctor Speedy and ME in search of medical honesty
he appears to be a man of integrity.
ReplyDeleteAfME do more than take the same position. They publicly call for more biomedical research whilst spending the funds they raise solely on psychological research, the money going to the Wessely school of thought.
They have publicly supported the NICE guidelines on M.E. that only permit psychological intervention into this neurological illness.
They have called for more GET and CBT instead of calling for biomedical treatment.
Only the executive have full membership, and no-one else has voting rights. They do not hold AGMs. At top level they seem to be acting as a secret society.
Psychiatrist Michael Sharpe, who has called M.E. sufferers 'the undeserving sick of the health service and of society' is thought to be one of their medical advisors.
From 25% group newsletter: Nigel Speight AYME patron's resignation letter
ReplyDeleteTo all who may not know, in the UK as well as the US there has been a
long battle between people who believe ME-CFS to be a psychiatric or
behavorial disorder, commonly known as the 'Wessely School' or
psychiatric lobby, and those who believe it to be an organic
biomedical disorder.
This battle has actually extended to UK patient charities, with two
charities in particular, AfME and AYME, being widely considered to be
colluding with the 'psychiatric lobby' in an attempt to portray ME-CFS
as a behavorial disorder to the detriment of thier members.
So it is good news that Dr. Nigel Speight, a patron of AYME, has
publicly resigned as their Patron citing exactly this as his reason in
the letter below.
I believe he has now become a Medical Advisor to the 25% M.E. Group,
if you want to send an email of thanks here is the email addy-
enquiry@25megroup.org
Thank you, Dr. Speight.
AyME's loss - the 25% group's gain, good news indeed. His input will be much appreciated.
ReplyDelete