Who is Simon Wessely?

For people who find the ME patient community deplorable, they sure do pay a lot of attention to us. We knew Wessely reads the forum, at least sometimes. It seems interest is a bit more widespread.

Quacks get called out. It comes with the territory. Don't like being called a quack? Don't be one, it's that simple. Don't lie. Don't defraud. Don't arrogantly make stuff up. Oh, and don't be massively disrespectful. You don't get respect in return for being disrespectful, unethical and generally causing harm to millions based on delusional fantasies. It's very easy to bully sick people. We won't be sick forever, and there will be lawsuits.

 

Thank you @Trish for writing so beautifully and speaking up. I wish I could write like that. Those words describe exactly how I feel.

The user on Twitter is a troll. Best to ignore and not feed a troll. I saw many engage when they first appeared on Twitter but it never leads anywhere. Not worth the effort.

This reminds me that so many of us here are so very very ill. How can they not see this.

I've been lucky enough to engage with a few researchers who all have made a point to listen and try and understand what I go through. I see them become more motivated in their work to try and help us. I just don't understand the mentality of the BPS crowd and why this never happened for them. Why do they think they know better than us.

I want to say more, a lot more, but the words don't come. So thanks again @Trish

 

For me reading cfs/ME's post sounded like the posting of desperation.

It's no accident that he focussed on the two possible bright spots happening for PwME at the moment -- the Larun exercise review (Hilda Bastian) and the GWAS study (Andy).

It seems like sour grapes that PwME are getting that kind and level of attention. Those two things more than much anything else currently are bound to impact the BPS bottom line.

Thus the lashing out.

Also, it is true that not all people here are able to contribute by creating posts that properly analyse a piece of research. I am among this group. Some venting also takes place. Focussing on that deflects from any honest engagement of the real issues.

 

SW is someone of whom it might be said that it is not always easy to know what he is saying from what he says. Much digging around the periphery is always required. It is almost never clear whether all the words and citations are there to reveal his opinions or to conceal them.

We all know his 1989 paper with David, Chalder and Butler. I have come across a complementary article in the MEA Newsletter for Summer 1989
entitled A Positive Approach to ME by Chalder and Butler. Perhaps the most revealing aspect is that they mention two papers as being worthy of the readers attention. These must be assumed to be the core of the approach, something which may not have been clear from the full paper. The papers are

Straus SE The Chronic Mononucleosis Syndrome 1988 Journal of Infectious Diseases Vol 157 405-412 and
Stokes MJ et al 1988 Normal Muscle strength and fatiguability in patients with effort syndromes BMJ vol 297 1014-1017

Don't be misled by the Stokes name. It involves our old friend Edwards (RMT that is).

Now we know that Straus indicated that Royal Free Disease or ME was hysteria. Had not M and B proved the point? He had concluded that Imboden Canter and Cluff and some loopy paper from 1959 on glandular fever held the key to the disease.

The Stokes at al paper concluded that, based on their heterogeneous group Of "Effort Syndrome" patients, "an integrated approach giving advice on exercise as well as psychological support seems most helpful in returning these patients to normal functioning". Mary Sullivan writes in the Autumn edition that "I know this to be untrue since I was one of the patients included in the study and despite such an approach remain chronically ill".

There is clearly more to the story than meets the eye. As is so often the case.

I will try to post copies, but am not yet set up to do so.

 

With people like Wessely you have to listen to what they don't say as much as what they do say, where in his long distinguished career has he said ME is an intolerance of exercise & exertion for example?

 

available on youtube (haven't watched it)

Code:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVUWDCcWwPk

 

"Nobody complained"

 

This explains so much:

https://twitter.com/user/status/1286992085531361280


Yes, other people's lives are "important" but won't somebody think of the shopping experience of privileged people? No surprise these people place their egos above the lives of millions. This is unhinged behavior.

The projection is amazing, seeing other people wearing masks induces a sense of panic? Good grief get over yourself, this is literally the tiniest sacrifice anyone has ever had to do against a massive threat. And there will likely never be a smaller sacrifice to be made.

This makes me very concerned about how we're going to survive climate change if the smallest tiniest bit of personal "sacrifice" has such a hostile response from prominent experts in the relevant field.

 

Doesn't it just. No deference to science, just beliefs and emotive blurting.

 

Maybe Dr Gerada thinks we could eat cake?
After all she needn't worry.

 

It is certainly time to talk about all the other deaths caused by irresponsible people not taking Covid19 seriously and so wrecking UK healthcare, not thinking they needed to self-isolate or anything like that...

ahem, cough

 

Wasn't there a behavioural scientist on SAGE who said the real problem with catastrophes is that people don't panic enough and screw up as a result?

We watched the first two episodes of The Salisbury Poisonings last night. It was intriguing to see how well specialist emergency services can function in a health care crisis in the UK. They can identify an almost unidentifiable nerve agent within days. They can shut down an entire town. They can clean up a contaminated area and almost completely avoid deaths. (The portrayal of Dawn Sturgess is sympathetic and tragic.) Busibodies from Whitehall can be sent packing if people locally are committed to doing their job.

What went wrong this time, er Dr Gerada? Did some hobnobbing people in London trash the system?

 

Sorry, I am cross.

 

https://powerbase.info/index.php/Simon_Wessely
(last updated in 2015)
info on powerbase
https://powerbase.info/index.php/Health_Portal
info on spinwatch
http://spinwatch.org/index.php/about/who-we-are

 

Anyone come up with an answer to the thread title? Asking for a friend.

 

https://twitter.com/user/status/1277697570920374272

 

Really helpful way for a prominent doctor to reinforce a health policy message.