Esther12
Senior Member
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This thread has moved on too rapidly for me to respond to all that has been said, but do want to disagree with the suggestion that, as Wessely has been operating within a system in which others also have power and influence, this lessens the extent to which we can hold him morally responsible for his work, or the harm he has done. I think that almost all of the most loathsome people are operating within systems that allow them to abuse their power over others: it is difficult to do real and lasting harm without this - that doesn't mean that they are any better than a random thug working on their own.
Wessely's work played to the biases and interests of those with power - while it is right to blame them too, this does nothing to absolve him of responsibility. Indeed, he has done rather well from building his career in this way.
Also, as others have pointed out, I don't think that Wessely does get focussed on unduly. While he was a key figure in promoting the routine medicalisation of the cognitions and behaviours of patients, simply because they have been given a CFS diagnosis, most complaints about CFS quackery are now focussed on the way in which biopsychosocial work not involving Wessely is being spun and manipulated. I do think that Wessely helped lay the foundations for this disturbing approach to CFS patients, and the belief that they do not deserve to be spoken to honestly and as equals, and I am not going to pretend that this is anything but repulsive - even if this does lead to some in the media as trying to pretend angry CFS patients must be basing their views on out of context quotes, or a failure to understand how mind and body can interact.
Wessely's work played to the biases and interests of those with power - while it is right to blame them too, this does nothing to absolve him of responsibility. Indeed, he has done rather well from building his career in this way.
Also, as others have pointed out, I don't think that Wessely does get focussed on unduly. While he was a key figure in promoting the routine medicalisation of the cognitions and behaviours of patients, simply because they have been given a CFS diagnosis, most complaints about CFS quackery are now focussed on the way in which biopsychosocial work not involving Wessely is being spun and manipulated. I do think that Wessely helped lay the foundations for this disturbing approach to CFS patients, and the belief that they do not deserve to be spoken to honestly and as equals, and I am not going to pretend that this is anything but repulsive - even if this does lead to some in the media as trying to pretend angry CFS patients must be basing their views on out of context quotes, or a failure to understand how mind and body can interact.