When a misplaced idea like psychiatric psychobabble takes hold and becomes mainstream I don't think it's about what any one individual within the system believes anymore.
So even if some individuals inhabiting relevant institutions have some sympathy for the fact that ME is physical they feel it's not their problem, nothing they can do about it. They're just there to perform their function not rock the boat.
This mentality also helped Nazi trains run on time but I digress.
While it is obviously patently nonsense that our illness is somatic the issue of getting this to change is political.
I think Esther12 said something to this effect.
Most people will simply not challenge the system, especially if there is no personal stake.
Thankfully we increasingly have people who do advocate for us alongside us.
The interesting part though is the possibility of a few of the well degreed, well respected, overpaid psychobabblers actually believing their own fantasy. That is, their position isn't merely political to maintain their turf but they've succumbed to their own delusion regarding the nature of ME. Is that somatoform do you think?
I agree. This is systemic. Its also a gross failure in responsibility for the entire medical profession and health related organizations, including government. Notice I said "responsibility" and not "blame". I hold these two to be separate. They are responsible because they could fix it. They are not to blame, for the most part, because they did not cause it.
My book covers rational analysis, politics, economics and managerial impact (plus a few other things I am not talking about yet). They all work together. Its still a long way from even the introduction being finished. This is
not a simple problem.
Now I do think many believe in this stuff, but they have to have doubt. Many who practice psychogenic medicine are likely to have some degree of blame. However that blame is spread over large numbers of psychiatrists and organizations.
Having said that there are some individuals who have greater influence, and a higher profile in psychogenic medicine. They are not solely to blame, but they have a bigger share.
We are fighting not just psychobabble, but the medical, political, economic and managerial views that support it.
Biopsychosocial medicine is being used to support sweeping political, managerial and economic change. Its likely to be a serious failure, and is already probably causing maybe 41 deaths per week in the UK from the DWP/ATOS scandal alone (2012 data). The architects of that are not only responsible, they share blame between them. In this case the bulk of the medical establishment has taken responsibility and opposed these changes.
Both psychogenic medicine and the biopsychosocial movement are examples of Zombie Science. They are not science as we know it, and are propped up by other forces that benefit from their views. This includes government, business and medicine in general. I would like to stress that such benefit
is not always financial. Sometimes it comes from increased legitimacy or influence.