The Lightning Process is practised by people with no qualifications recognised by anybody apart from themselves

Dr John H Greensmith
ME Free For All.org:

The plight of youngsters struck down by ME (and everyone else, including this Research Psychologist and veteran M.E. sufferer of 23 years) is even worse than Lucy Johnston's welcome revelatory and somewhat enlightening article suggests (Plight of youngsters struck down by ME, Sunday Express, 13 February 2011).

Contrary to Dr Esther Crawley's assertion, we are nowhere near knowing the true scale of the problem because Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E) has been bundled in with and has had its discrete identity contaminated by, a variety of other illnesses, under the collective diagnostic tern Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS).

In her SMILE (Specialist Medical Intervention and Lightning Evaluation) research, therefore, it may turn out, when we have a diagnostic test for M.E., such as a blood test, or scan, for example, that not a single child in the study had M.E. but conclusions will be attributed to them. M.E. is so much more than the "Mr Tired" that five-year-old Ben Bazneh can best articulate.

I know of no evidence which shows that the cause, onset, progression or prognosis of M.E. is any different in children than adults but this is being assumed. There is no particular treatment for children but it may be better to have none than one that does you no good or one that may harm you.

The only treatments, for adults, on the NHS are Cognitive Behaviour Therapy CBT), which is ineffective for M.E. sufferers and Graded Exercise Therapy (GET), which makes a majority worse.

Dr Crawley's research is with a controversial, unproven, method called the Lightning Process, for which there is no scientific basis, practised by people with no qualifications recognised by anybody apart from themselves.

It is much worse than Lucy Johnston has been led to believe.

Yours sincerely
Dr John H Greensmith
ME Free For All.org

# See also: Professor of Psychology, Rhona Johnston shows that ME/CFS is NOT a psychological condition (on a UK Government website !!!) … a MUST READ
# See also: New randomised controlled trial shows that CBT and GET make things worse in ME/CFS