2009 Simon Wessely interview with New Scientist:
It's behind a paywall there, but available here:
http://www.healthcare-today.co.uk/content.php?contentId=10612
Can people think themselves sick?
16th March 2009
In the New Scientist psychiatrist Simon Wessely, adviser to the Home Office and Ministry of Defence, looks into the idea that people can "think themselves sick".
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Dr Wessely has researched how illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome and Gulf war syndrome are caused. This has led to controversy and he has received angry letters from people who believe he has dismissed their conditions.
However Dr Wessely has devoted himself to the finding ways of treating these conditions. Speaking to Claire Wilson, Dr Wessley explains how a person's brain can affect their health.
How does a person's mindset affect their physical health?
On a weekly basis one would experience many manifestations of "how what's going on around you affects your subjective health". When unpleasant experiences occur, they affect a person physically. One might suffer a number of reactions including insomnia, anxiety and other symptoms.
At what point does that make someone ill?
The physical reactions "only become a problem when people get trapped in excessively narrow explanations for illness". Going online to diagnose ourselves can potentially be harmful.
How does chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) relate to this?
In many cases, it is caused by an illness such as glandular fever. After a few weeks or months most people will have recovered from it. Unfortunately some people decide to monitor their symptoms and can "get trapped in vicious circles...so that what started it all off is no longer what is keeping it going".
We still do not understand why some infections and not others trigger CFS, or why depressed people have double the risk of developing it. It is important to consider both the "infective trigger" and the mental factors in order to understand the condition.
How is CFS treated?
The first step is to make people engage with their treatment. I speak with them for 2 hours and let them know I want to understand their problems.
Although I may not know why many of the patients I see are unwell, the most important thing "is what happens next". I encourage cognitive behavioural therapy and for the patient to become more active.
Is your method of treating CFS a success?
About one third of people improve, one third "completely recover" and the remaining third do not.
You have claimed that CFS, irritable bowel syndrome and fibromyalgia "are all the same illness".
Many of these conditions share overlapping symptoms - people with IBS say they are tired and people with CFS report intestinal problems.
So the "syndrome labels" are too random?
You find that countries around the world have "different syndromes". For example, in France CFS does not exist and in Germany low blood pressure is not good.
What about Gulf war syndrome?
I asked the question: "What are the rates of illness in those we sent to the Gulf compared with those we haven't?" Our research found that being sent to the Gulf had caused a definite effect to the health of some of those serving there.
How has your work affected military policy?
Our research has gathered data about psychiatric disorders in soldiers. We discoverd that alcohol is more of an issue than post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
You have recently been exploring the claims of people who say their mobile phones have made them unwell. What's this about?
My co-worker James Rubin and I found that people who say they are affected by mobile phones could not "tell the difference between sham and real phone signals". These people are not inventing the problem - they have put themselves in a trap where a mobile phone is the trigger for their problems.
What does it feel like to be sent hate mail?
It has been "pretty unpleasant" in some cases, but my work covers a controversial area.
My patients do not send me hate mail and I would be concerned if my colleagues or patients thought I was not a good person. What is important is producing "good quality" research.