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(Not a recommendation) Essex CFS service self-promotion for ME awareness week

Dolphin

Senior Member
Messages
17,567
Charming. No mention that this person was lucky.

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"Always believe that recovery is possible," Jo proclaims. "But you have to stop putting the responsibility of getting better on somebody else and having the expectation that somebody else is going to 'fix' you. You've got the power to do it and you just have to start one small step at a time. Don't think that your body is working against you; all the body is trying to do is get to that homeostasis - it wants to get better. So work with it, listen carefully to it and be patient.

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http://bit.ly/24Zx8fg i.e.
http://www.southend.nhs.uk/about-us/media-centre/southend-news/nr-56-(2016)/

Could have been worse of course.
 

TiredSam

The wise nematode hibernates
Messages
2,677
Location
Germany
Jo is now a nutrition & weight management specialist who also works as a health improvement practitioner within the NHS, helping people with weight management issues and to stop smoking habits.

PHOTO (l-r): Jo Redfearn and Linda Simpson (cognitive behavioural therapist (CBT).

The Essex Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Service, runs from Southend Hospital and can be contacted on 01702 385247. You can also email them at cfsservice@southend.nhs.uk.\

Advert dressed up as news story.
 
Messages
15,786
An excellent example of the power of brainwashing. Can ME/CFS patients get deprogramming paid for by the NHS afterward? :rolleyes:

ETA - Never mind, just another quack probably lying through her teeth as a marketing ploy:
Jo is now a nutrition & weight management specialist who also works as a health improvement practitioner within the NHS, helping people with weight management issues and to stop smoking habits.
 

Chrisb

Senior Member
Messages
1,051
I wonder whether there are no patients in Essex who have failed to recover from a virus within two years of onset and whose cases might have been reported.
 

Mij

Messages
2,353
She got better from doing this:

Jo shares her recovery tips

  • Nourish and hydrate yourself. Ditch the junk and eat as clean and green as possible. Avoid stimulants like caffeine and sugar - these are fake energy.
  • Get into a routine and put some structure into your day. This will enable you to see improvements.
  • Practice good sleep hygiene and keep a regular time to go to bed and get up.
  • Allow for some "me time" every day. Rest, relax, restore energy and calm the nervous system. Use meditation, deep breathing, listen to music or just sit in "nature" and be quiet.
  • Do something that brings you joy every day. Laughter is tricky when you feel so ill but it is very healing.
  • Remember that a good day is just a good day and not necessarily a recovery. The nature of CFS/ME means it fluctuates so don't overdo it. Small steps are key to recovery.
 

A.B.

Senior Member
Messages
3,780
There's no guarantee that the patient story is even real. These people make stuff up all the time to tell a nice story that's good for business and attracts clients.

Besides, from a single case one cannot conclude anything. Regression to the mean is one of the biggest causes of a treatment falsely appearing effective. One has to look at clinical trials to figure out whether a treatment works. And we all know how the biggest trial of biopsychosocial approach to CFS went.
 
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Bob

Senior Member
Messages
16,455
Location
England (south coast)
Jo is now a nutrition & weight management specialist who also works as a health improvement practitioner within the NHS, helping people with weight management issues and to stop smoking habits.
Isn't there a major conflict of interest here? Jo isn't a patient; she's an NHS employee or self-employed consultant. And its simply wrong to portray her as a patient. The info in this article is conflicted. And it's unhelpful and wrong for an NHS article to tell all ME/CFS patients that they can recover if only they were to put their minds to it. Where is the evidence to support this claim?

"Recovery is possible - You've got the power to do it"

"Jo shares her recovery tips"

  • Nourish and hydrate yourself.
Drat! Why didn't I think of that?
  • Allow for some "me time" every day.
Double Drat! Again! Why didn't I think of that? No wonder I'm not recovered!
  • Use meditation, deep breathing, listen to music or just sit in "nature" and be quiet.
So the NHS is recommending meditation, and listening to music as a treatment for ME that will lead to recovery? Really?
 
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Bob

Senior Member
Messages
16,455
Location
England (south coast)
CFS/ME sufferers have to deal with the social stigma of the illness and reluctance from both the public and professionals to accept the illness even exists.
Including stigma from professionals at the Essex CFS Service, who publicly dismiss the illness as a "meme". Yes, you read it correctly, ME/CFS is a meme, according to the Essex CFS Service!

Linda said: "Jo is a more likely candidate to develop CFS/ME because of her perfectionism and living life at a 150mph - the Type A personality.
So, Linda is a member of staff (cognitive behavioural therapist) providing the services at the Essex CFS Service, and she apparently believes that a person is more likely to develop ME/CFS if they are a "perfectionist" or a "Type A personality". Really? This isn't an evidence-based health service - it's a cult.

Jo was referred to the Essex Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Service run from Southend Hospital. The service assesses people holistically (Biopsychosocial)...
"Biopsychosocial" explains a thing or two!
 
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Messages
13,774
Just as a piece of writing, this was painful. It helps me understand how Suzanne O'Sullivan's work could be seen as relatively impressive.

In some ways CFS/ME is the worst and best thing to happen to Jo. The worst because it's the antithesis of everything she stood for and the best because of her commitment and drive to overcome it and improve her overall health.

Jo being a "health improvement practitioner" means that it's fair to hold her to higher standards than one normally would for patients anecdotes imo.
 

user9876

Senior Member
Messages
4,556
I don't think this article is even legal. The advertising standards agency would probably rule against it because it's promoting a service by using misleading medical claims about recovery. And I'd be surprised if it meets the NHS's editorial standards.
Given the NHS is now constructed from commercial entities would a complaint to the advertising standards agency be worth while. The issue may be they are advertising to patients but the CCG are paying. It would be interesting to know what promises they make to CCG around the cost effectiveness of their treatments. Especially since the LTFU from pace showed no effect and the economic analysis of PACE seemed to use much lower costs than we see other services charging.
 
Messages
15,786
Well, I already follow Jo's recovery tips so I'm delighted to know that I'm recovered! :rofl:
Well obviously you need a self-proclaimed professional to let you know that you're doing things wrong! Too much of this, too little of that ... everyone must be helped to find the elusive level of complete perfection before the magical fairies descend and sprinkle us with their Dust of Miraculous Healing.[1]

[1] If magical fairies do not descend even when doing all of the right things in exactly the right manner, the patient is completely at fault for presumably thinking the wrong thoughts.
 

Kati

Patient in training
Messages
5,497
She got better from doing this:

Jo shares her recovery tips

  • Nourish and hydrate yourself. Ditch the junk and eat as clean and green as possible. Avoid stimulants like caffeine and sugar - these are fake energy.
  • Get into a routine and put some structure into your day. This will enable you to see improvements.
  • Practice good sleep hygiene and keep a regular time to go to bed and get up.
  • Allow for some "me time" every day. Rest, relax, restore energy and calm the nervous system. Use meditation, deep breathing, listen to music or just sit in "nature" and be quiet.
  • Do something that brings you joy every day. Laughter is tricky when you feel so ill but it is very healing.
  • Remember that a good day is just a good day and not necessarily a recovery. The nature of CFS/ME means it fluctuates so don't overdo it. Small steps are key to recovery.

That's horrible stuff. They have no understanding about pathophysiology, about the disease. They think we're simply tired, unmotivated folks who don't want to work.
 
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