• Welcome to Phoenix Rising!

    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of and finding treatments for complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

    To become a member, simply click the Register button at the top right.

A Blast From The Past: A Review By Maryann Spurgin, Ph.D.

Nielk

Senior Member
Messages
6,970
Maryann Spurgin, Ph.D., graciously gave permission to MEadvocacy to share her 1997 review of Mark Demitrack's and Susan Abbey's Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: An Integrative Approach to Evaluation and Treatment. Although originally written 19 years ago, it is very relevant to what is still happening today, with the way that the Wessely school of psychs try to somaticize the biological disease ME.


It goes into elegant and ingenious interpretation details that will make you scratch your head and think “was this really written 19 years ago?”

Please read the blog here -http://www.meadvocacy.org/a_blast_from_the_past_a_review_by_maryann_spurgin_ph_d
 

Sean

Senior Member
Messages
7,378
Should be pointed out Demitrack has subsequently stated (in a formal paper, in 2006, IIRC,) that he thinks the psychs are going too far, and are reading way too much into the evidence.

Wouldn't assume he is a member or even ally of that school of thought anymore.
 

halcyon

Senior Member
Messages
2,482
In short, Demitrack selects out of the definition of CFS anyone with chronic infection, neurological problems, and other objective signs of disease, only to draw the circular conclusion that CFS is neither a chronic infection nor a neurodegenerative disease (but instead a subjective belief system leading to faulty behavior). It is odd that the book accuses patients and their doctors of faulty cognitions when it would seem that, like Straus, Demitrack has failed to master the simple rules of elementary logic, and begs the question to "prove" his conclusions.
Sounds very similar to a certain recently proposed study.