How does cognitive behaviour therapy reduce fatigue in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome? The role of physical activity, 2010, Wiborg, Knoop +

Well yes, that strategy was necessary to achieve the main aim of the trial:

I can't quite believe they wrote that in their paper, but they did.

 

I’ve actually seen that quite often. The aim is to prove the efficacy, not test it. They might believe those are the same thing, for all I know.

 

Yep when you look at how studies like PACE were conducted. It’s glaringly obvious that PACE was an attempt to produce “evidence” that GET/CBT works, not an attempt to test if GET/CBT works.

 

yes, that's quite telling.

 

yes, it was conducted to prove that what they were already doing throughout the 90s and what they were already advising the NHS and insurance companies was "evidence-based"

 

Was it Wessely or White that used the analogy of an ocean liner heading to a preordained port when describing PACE, presumably missing the point that the purpose of science is not to realise a predefined conclusion?

 

I think Wessely wrote something about choppy seas but glorious voyage or something like that when describing PACE

 

I was looking for that quote today! I thought it was Geraghty in the Journal of Health Psychology but I can't find it so maybe it was someone else...

 

Here we go:

https://www.nationalelfservice.net/...syndrome-choppy-seas-but-a-prosperous-voyage/

So that's where Wessely said it, and Geraghty mentioned the metaphor, but I can't remember who pointed out that you don't decide before the trial where it should end up and make corrections so it gets there.

 

Thank you @Evergreen, even worse than I sort of remembered.

 

I wonder if they even realise that sailing a ship from one predetermined port to another doesn’t create any new information at all? It’s such a terrible analogy.

 

Oh look what Graham (RIP) had to say in a comment under Wessely's blog:

 

Maybe this ship didn't even leave port.
The captain and his senior crew were just making waves themselves, by feasting, lots of booze, that made them feel seasick.
The fist that went overboard were the clients, they were not needed anymore.
Just bossing them around had made the hotshots feel powerful.
Do this, don't do that and when you don't do your homework, you'll stay sick.
But now it's party time.

But the clients were and are still drowning even at the port that was never reached.

 

Since they already "know" that it works, then it really is.

Of course this is the opposite of how science works, but since it's widely accepted I guess that science is still vibes-based.

 

Wessely. In the same advertorial, he presented himself as a neutral observer with no connection to the cruise ship. Despite having written the manual, having been involved in the process, and that this was basically his baby. I really doubt that he missed the point. I think he was actually boasting of how easy it is to get away with this, how they don't even need to pretend, because even when they get caught, nothing happens anyway.

Well, sometimes they get awarded for it and promoted far above their merit. Hard to expect any other kind of behavior given this. It's like when companies get caught doing something illegal, and get fined a pittance far smaller than the net profit they made from it. It may as well be a "Go for it!" certificate. Why would they bother following the law when it's more profitable to ignore it?