letter in the Spectator:
http://www.spectator.co.uk/politics/all/7204548/letters.thtml
Sir: I’m concerned that Simon Wessely and his colleagues have suffered harassment, but am also concerned that anyone who legitimately criticises their ideas and methods could be labelled as ‘extremist’. Simon Wessely fails to mention that there is an ongoing debate between the ‘biopsychosocial’ model of CFS, favoured by psychiatrists like himself, and the biomedical model of ME/CFS, supported by many international researchers and clinicians.
His article serves to raise the profile of one opinion whilst effectively stifling debate and dissent over treatment.
For instance, he suggests that the treatments he recommends are effective, but doesn’t acknowledge that this is contested by both large-scale patient surveys and a significant body of international research.
K. Wimhurst
Colchester
See also: Jan 2011, Spanish study shows that CBT and GET make things WORSE in ME/CFS !!! See also: Harvard Medical School: EEG spectral coherence data distinguish chronic fatigue syndrome patients from healthy controls and depressed patients
See also: The putative agent of ME/CFS can be transferred to monkeys
See also: Almost 5% of ME/CFS patients contracted ME/CFS from a blood transfusion
See also: Premorbid risk markers for growing nose syndrome in a large cohort of CBT psychiatrists
See also: Cerebrospinal fluid profiles can differentiate between Lyme disease, ME/CFS and healthy controls
See also: The main characteristic of ME is an abnormally delayed muscle recovery after doing trivial things, if you don't have that, you don't have ME
"He (Sir Simon Sobsalot ) suggests that the treatments he recommends are effective"
ReplyDeleteIt should be remembered that "Effective" treatment is not the same as "Efficacious" treatment. Telling a patient to "Sod off!!" is effective treatment, if the patient doesn't come back. In the past Wessely has spoken of CFS/ME not as an illness, but as a technique. CFS/ME (Anything Wessely likes criteria) might be more accurately labeled "Wessely's Technique."
"He (Sir Simon Sobsalot ) suggests that the treatments he recommends are effective"
ReplyDeleteIt should be remembered that "Effective" treatment is not the same as "Efficacious" treatment. Telling a patient to "Sod off!!" is effective treatment, if the patient doesn't come back. In the past Wessely has spoken of CFS/ME not as an illness, but as a technique. CFS/ME (Anything Wessely likes criteria) might be more accurately labeled "Wessely's Technique."