UK: Beth Dobbin -- BBC: The Olympic sprinter now bedbound for 22 hours a day

[Maat]

Radio interview by Beth Dobbin courtesy of BrokenBattery. She says that over 500 sports people have now signed the letter. Astonishing achievement Beth.

 

[Chandelier]

From Bluesky:

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bethdobbin.bsky.social @bethdobbin.bsky.social
500 Athlete Signatures ️

We’ve had so much interest since our initial athlete letter to the Prime Minister that we’ve now sent a second letter, this time with 500 athletes backing my call to meet with me and fund ME properly (prev 360).

Huge names including David Moyes (we know Andy’s an Everton fan ), Millie Bright & so many stars from a variety of sports I can’t tell you how grateful I am to every single one of you!!

Please @andyburnham.bsky.social , take an illness that’s been neglected more than almost anything else seriously 1.35m people in the country estimated to be impacted, that’s a lot of the vote share!

I know I owe lots of people replies and thanks, please bear with me and thank you so much again
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[OrganicChilli]

Psychologists’ Open Letter for Biomedical ME Research

Steven Shorrock on Bluesky

And on X

LinkedIn

This open letter invites psychologists who currently hold Chartered Psychologist (CPsychol) status with the British Psychological Society and/or Health and Care Professions Council registration as a Practitioner Psychologist to support increased biomedical research into myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). Signatures are given in an individual professional capacity, not on behalf of employers or professional bodies.\

Dear Prime Minister,

Re: Psychologists supporting Beth Dobbin’s call for ME research funding

We are writing as psychologists to support Olympian Beth Dobbin’s appeal for increased research funding for myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), and the letter of support signed by over 500 figures from the world of sport.

As psychologists, we recognise that the causes and mechanisms of ME are not yet fully understood, and that all causal explanations must be evaluated against robust scientific evidence. However, ME has too often been psychologised, with psychological and behavioural explanations advanced beyond the available evidence. This has contributed to the misunderstanding of a serious, disabling illness and, too often, the dismissal of patients’ experiences.

Psychology has an important contribution to make in supporting people living with chronic illness, and psychological support and medical care can be complementary. However, psychological support is not a substitute for biomedical investigation, appropriate medical care or effective treatments. Nor should uncertainty about the mechanisms of ME be taken as evidence of psychological or behavioural causation.

For some of us, this issue is also personal. The psychologist initiating this letter has written about his experience of ME, including its effects on work, relationships, independence and participation in everyday life.

We welcome recent advances in biomedical research, but sustained and substantially increased investment is needed. We therefore support Beth’s request for a meeting and urge your government to provide the remaining £15 million needed for the Sequence ME and Long Covid study, alongside a properly funded, long-term programme of ME research with clear annual funding targets, informed by patients, clinicians and researchers.

People with ME deserve to be heard, believed and supported by the best science available.

Yours sincerely,

The undersigned UK Chartered Psychologists and HCPC-registered Practitioner Psychologists

 

[Lou B Lou]

Oh I could kiss 'em!

Psychologists' Open Letter for Biomedical ME Research:

'We welcome recent advances in biomedical research, but sustained and substantially increased investment is needed. We therefore support Beth’s request for a meeting and urge your government to provide the remaining £15 million needed for the Sequence ME and Long Covid study, alongside a properly funded, long-term programme of ME research with clear annual funding targets, informed by patients, clinicians and researchers.

People with ME deserve to be heard, believed and supported by the best science available.'

.

 

[Robert 1973]

Psychologists’ Open Letter for Biomedical ME Research

It’s been signed by 35 psychologists in less than 24 hours.

It would be good if someone could organise one for medical professionals.

 

[rvallee]

Steven Shorrock on Bluesky

And on X

Good thread from the organizer of the petition showing some smart reasoning, only on Xitter:

Update: I am 9 weeks into symptom remission. All symptoms including PEM have gone, for now. I feel like I’m back in civilian life after 2 years in the trench. The physical aspect is not there and in its place a psychological whiplash is. But it doesn’t compare. ME is hell.

I could attribute it to lots of things (post hoc ergo propter hoc) - medicines, supplements, pacing, rest, Perrin technique, Yoga Nidra…but I think the reason is biological emergence/luck. Maybe a hundred nudges helped, but I think the body went back into some kind of order.

Had I been doing brain training, Lighting bollocks, whatever, and were I not a psychologist with scientific training, I would surely have attributed recovery to mind-body stuff. Since we try many things, the last one before any remission seems causal. Post hoc ergo propter hoc.

What we need is biomedical research. Psychology is for support in living with the illness, because god know that is hard. I didn’t have psychological or psychiatric support through the two years of mine, but it has sometimes felt necessary during remission.

I am utterly heartbroken for everyone suffering this disease. Mine has ‘only’ ever been mild-moderate (off work for 6 months solid and then many other weeks and months). This my story https://humanisticsystems.com/2026/05/17/i-c rash-texts-from-m-e/ I can’t say it’s over.I’ll to do whatever I can for those suffering.

And some more smart comments from another thread about how returning to normal is a trivial thing once health is regained, no need for complex rehab of any kind:

I went into remission 9 weeks ago and within days was back into pre-illness activity. Not got to gym yet for weight training but that’s a time issue. The “adapting to illness” thing is nonsense. We adjust to the functional capacity we have, but still routinely overdo it...

The weird thing with ME, as a (multi-system) neuroimmune illness, is that if the immune system somehow regulates, the lack of underlying damage to organs etc means that we can go back to activity we couldn’t weeks earlier for mild-moderate cases where musculature isn’t affected.

We are long past the point at which the continued assertion about various modalities of rehab or healing mind magic when we know so much about the natural course of the illness, is simply criminal. The institutions of government and medicine have produced the absolute worst possible outcome here, appalling lack of performance that should get a lot of people kicked out of leadership position and some people to go to prison for a long time.