Who is Simon Wessely?

It's very confusing that he gains titles when he should be stripped of them.

 

a peerage.

also see
Lords, Ladies and Misters: A Guide to Addressing the Peerage (And the Common People) - Emily Owen (e-owen.uk)

 

Only for use in emergencies!

 

Surely, it would have to be Professor Lord Wessely of Camelford?

Somewhere there is a tweet from him which suggests that he is opposed to the peerage system. (Can anyone find it?) Having said that, self-contradiction has never been a obstacle to advancement for him. It didn’t stop his friend Claire Fox – now Baroness Fox of Buckley – from accepting one.

 

This is the tweet I was thinking of:

Gary Linekar:

“Imagine wanting to be a Lord so badly, you’d actually try and buy a peerage. Actually, imagine wanting to be Lord. Actually, why do we still have Lords in 2021? Bizarre.”

Simon Wessely:

“Have always liked Lord Northcliffe’s retort - ‘when I want a peerage I will buy it like any honest man’”

Write your own analogies.

 

This phrase below has been attributed repeatedly to Wessely but does anyone have the original source? I've only seen it repeated as a second-hand claim--I've never seen an official transcript or article in which this appeared. Is it from one of Margaret Williams' articles, or from where?

“I will argue that M.E. is simply a belief, the belief that one has an illness called M.E.”

 

This is the link to an alleged transcript of the lecture but I don’t know the source of the transcript: https://forums.phoenixrising.me/att...tion-of-disease-simon-wessely-1994-pdf.32079/

 

Thanks, yes--I think alleged is the right word. I don't think that's an official transcript. So it might be accurate--it might not be. Absent an official source that is not transcribed by someone else, it's hard to know.

 

Is that PR link the same as https://www.margaretwilliams.me/2003/prof-wessely-lecture-notes_12may1994.pdf ?

 

Aha, that's not the same - that contains a photocopy of the original lecture notes, not just a transcript. Good find.

 

Not the same and looks genuine, although not clear where Margaret Williams got her copy from.

SW: “I don't mind what people write about me, providing they are accurate with the facts"

This stands out to me for two reasons:

1) SW has repeatedly said things about people with ME/CFS which are both inaccurate about the facts and harmful to patients.

2) I don’t think his statement is itself true. Many criticisms of SW have included inaccuracies and misrepresentations as well as criticisms that are accurate and valid. He has been very skilled at using inaccurate (or unproven) criticisms to discredit and/or distract from valid criticisms, and portray himself as a victim. Without those inaccuracies I’m not sure if he would have got away with it so easily. So the truth may be that he has benefited from valid criticisms including allegations which are either inaccurate or unproven.

Ironically, whatever the truth of his claim, I would urge everyone to heed his advice: we should always try to ensure that anything we write or say about him is accurate and well sourced. The accurate records of his work are damning enough.

Having said that, I suspect that some of the allegations that he has challenged as being inaccurate may be true. Given how shocking some of the things that he has said on record are, it would be surprising if he hadn’t said things that are at least as shocking in private.

As I’ve said elsewhere, I know a medical professional who was truly shocked by a private talk he gave for medical professionals in the 1990s. I suspect that some of the allegations he has tried to discredit may originate from such sources. But without records these things are hard to prove.


Screenshot of handwritten section from document above:

 

See “Simon Wessely Research & Related Quotes”: https://www.s4me.info/threads/simon-wessely-research-related-quotes.1304/

The above thread is an excellent and well referenced resource. I wonder if it should be merged or linked with this thread.

 

I have that same detail - from the booklet "Quotable Quotes" compiled by Margaret Williams on behalf of IiME in 2007.

It gives no more detail than that.
I dont know if they still produce it but for some reason i have 2 copies, which coincidentally i just came across at the back of a drawer. It might be useful to you @dave30th i'd be happy to post it to you if you want to PM me an address. Or indeed anyone else who wants it.

Its got loads of old quotes from the usual suspects.

 

Xitter thread on Gulf War Syndrome & Simon Wessely by @Adam pwme

There are more tweets in the thread but there seems to a limit on how many can be embedded per S4ME post.

The whole Xitter thread can be read here: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1527307505705005068.html

 

I don’t know if this has already been posted, admins please delete if this the case:

https://www.scottishlegal.com/artic...Mcrew1d9mbalgp4CV3pr3Su7DrVAN2-MYwpgDDRg4B8VI

A Blog assessing the history of Sir Simon Wessely and the potential impact of his place on the board of NHS England:

Also the following will be of interest:

David J Black’s forthcoming book The Great Psycho Heist: How the Management and Treatment of a Crippling Illness was Hijacked by a Cabal of Psychiatrists in Britain and America, and Why is currently in preparation.

 

Turns out it was already posted there, and I had commented on it two weeks ago.