MAGICAL MEDICINE: HOW TO MAKE AN ILLNESS ... - Invest in ME

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There can be no doubt that, for patients with ME/CFS as distinct from those suffering from chronic
“fatigue”, neither CBT nor GET is effective, otherwise ‐‐ after 20 years of the implementation of the
Wessely School’s interventions ‐‐ everyone would by now be cured.
Given the substantial and significant evidence that ME/CFS is not a psychiatirc disorder, it is disturbing that
the Wessely School continue to place so much emphasis on trying to change patients’ (correct) cognitions.
In this respect it is notable that Professor Sir Mansel Aylward (he was knighted in the Queen’s 2010 New
Year Honours List; in 2005 he was elected to the Queen’s Birthday Honours Committee and in September
2008 he was formally re‐appointed for a further three years) is to give a lecture on 17 th May 2010 entitled
“The Power of Belief: Harnessing its Potential to Bring about Behavioural and Cultural Change around
Health, Illness and Work”.
The pre‐conference workshop is to be given by Anthony McLean on 16 th May 2010 and is entitled “How to
Ethically Influence Others”. McLean was trained by Dr Robert Cialdini, a social psychologist and author of
“Influence: Science and Practice” (a book that considers why people comply with requests) and “Yes! 50
Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive”. McLean will identify and explain the six universal principles
of persuasion that allegedly produce “lasting…and strong, long‐term change”.
According to the pre‐conference publicity, the dominant theme of Aylward’s presentation is to be: “how
belief and belief networks and ways of modifying them play a cardinal role in securing attitudinal,
behavioural and cultural change in both the individual and society. Prof Aylward will illustrate this by
describing the outcomes of his research and how belief networks operate in the spheres of health, illness and disability
and impact on return to optimal functioning and (re‐)entering engagement in work.
“Over the past decade evidence has emerged that biopsychosocial factors, such as beliefs, have a fundamental role in the
presentation of illness, recovery, and the probability of return to as well as retention in work. Ill‐health and
disability…may be meaningfully explained in terms of psychological and socio‐cultural factors…Professor
Aylward’s keynote address will also provide an understanding of public policy initiatives for large scale
modifying of belief networks in society” (http://www.arpa.org.au/Conference/PreConferenceWS.aspx ), a
sinister‐sounding policy that if applied in the UK may – indeed perhaps ought – to strike fear in the heart of
every person with ME/CFS, given the knowledge that they have been specifically targeted by the DWP for
the removal of state benefits that are essential for basic survival.
In contrast, reviewing Barbara Ehrenreich’s recent book “Smile or Die: How Positive Thinking Fooled
America and the World”, the respected Woman’s Hour host Jenni Murray is emphatic: “To actually follow
a philosophy that says that the way you think, the way that you operate, is what can make you better, is
just such a cheat and a lie” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2010/jan/16/womens‐hour‐jenni‐
murray ).
As American researcher Dr Jacob Teitelbaum points out on his website:
“Is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy harmful in (ME)CFS? Unfortunately, some of those using it for
(ME)CFS believe that they have to convince the patients that their disease is not real. Besides being
abusive, this approach is insane and often makes the patients worse. Nonetheless, it can save the insurance
companies tons of money”
(http://www.endfatigue.com/health_articles_c/Cfs_fm‐is_cognitive_behavioral_therapy_harmful_cfs.html ).
Commenting on the UK study that failed to find any evidence of XMRV in almost 200 patients with “CFS”
from Professor Wessely’s Fatigue Service Unit in London, Dr Judy Mikovits noted: “They paid to have their
study published in the Public Library of Science”, adding that she suspects insurance companies in the United
Kingdom are behind attempts to sully the findings of her Reno study (Co‐Cure RES, NOT: 23 rd January
2010).