Can psychiatry make medicine better? Michael Sharpe, 29 Nov 2022

i wonder which trials he will be discussing....?

 

Doubt it has much impact outside the usual circles. But I am blissfully unaware of a lot of things in the world so I'll wait and see.

 

he's very established in the US on this; see post here
https://www.s4me.info/threads/light...roval-february-2022.14876/page-14#post-263595

 

It's established despite zero evidence of usefulness.

One of Sharpe's paper: https://www.s4me.info/threads/the-e...mized-trials-2021-toynbee-sharpe-et-al.20568/

And since evidence is required for something, not against, then clearly this mumbojumbo has been established without any actual evidence. In fact the only conclusion is that it's not useful, but somehow in medical research aspirational marketing is OK.

Of course "working", "effective" or "useful" are just a matter of perception. It has certainly worked very well for people like Sharpe, is effective at creating careers that accomplish nothing and get rewarded for clearly political reasons.

So very much in the biopsychosocial tradition: useless to patients, beloved by professionals. Which really shows how disconnected from reality modern healthcare is. Perception matters more than reality.

 

Studies Showing Psychiatry's Value to Medically Ill Patients Needed, Says Award Lecturer

https://www.psychnews.org/alert_AM2023_3k.html


eta:
https://twitter.com/user/status/1661130046105350146


"robust clinical trials" hah.

 

This clicks perfectly into my research, thank you @Sly Saint.

If anyone gets a hold on the full lecture (text or video), please DM me. I'd be very grateful.

I'll keep an eye on this thread of course, but am currently trying to recover from overload and worsening health, so not keeping up.

 

Makes money of it and we can't really fight back. Morals don't come into it.

 

PACE is one of the best examples they could find? That says volumes.

 

I’m sure this was all met with thunderous applause. Did any recycled tropes about feral militant activists make their way into the lecture?

 

The study cited above:

is not the PACE trial which was first published in 2011. Interesting that Sharpe should cite an earlier and smaller study.

 

Interestingly, it's not PACE they reference but this study from 1996:

https://www.bmj.com/content/312/7022/22

Also interesting to see all the responses and letters thoroughly criticizing the study.


Edit: cross-posted with Peter

 

Yikes. If that's all it takes. Dude just described what he hoped to achieve as if it actually achieved it, and that's good for them.

If psychiatry could make medicine better, I think it had more than enough time to prove it. There is no "if" anymore. Especially when the award cites the cycle of formulaic BS trials as an achievement, when it's only a matter of time before the paradigm is retired entirely.

 

It gets even better - when Sly Saint posted the notice in February, I looked up the specifics of the award (I wanted to know its origin) and noticed the criteria for nomination:

"Self-nominations and nominations by a colleague are accepted."

I have no idea who nominated him, but I could totally see Sharpe nominating himself, and I amuse myself with the thought.

 

I felt a chill in the air over the weekend of the APA meeting in San Francisco. Luckily, I managed not to see Professor Sharpe's talk--costs $$ to get into the conference. I assumed that was likely the reporter's mistake. Sharpe is proud of PACE and no reason from his perspective not to cite it favorably.

 

I would like to know what the BPS definition of "activity" is.

Do they use a narrow definition? Is it just about going to the gym, and vigorous exercise such as jogging, cycling, swimming etc.? In other words, having a sporty lifestyle.

Many pwME do activities, out of necessity, and maybe for enjoyment as well. Someone has to wash those dishes. Light housework is an activity some pwME do. Someone has to do it, and circumstances may dictate it is the pwME.

If we were all afraid of, and didn't engage in
"activities", there might be less crashes/Post Exertional Malaise.

I know for myself, I have to engage in activities that may, or will cause PEM, but often there is no choice but to do them. And, even pacing will not eliminate the PEM.

I am tired of the BPS'ers thinking we don't know what's best for us. They don't understand ME at all.

 

EAPM 2023

 

The president bit feels a bit like that time in high school where we got to elect members of the student board of the school. 6 applicants for 5 spots and 9 people turned out to vote. Yes you're governing the student board, but it isn't really an accomplishment I'd boast about.