jimells
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Dr Coyne's new essay isn't on ME, but it covers a very-much related topic: psychobabble research, and how bad it is. He discusses how a group of researchers (maybe not the "Wessely School", but certainly fellow travellers) have manipulated the publication process in order to obfuscate what their research on CBT for alleged psychosomatic illness actually shows.
I'm sure most folks here are familiar with terms like "psychosomatic", "psychogenic", 'somatoform", "functional" disorders, and "somatization". But how about "Abridged Somatization Disorder"? Never heard of it? Well neither has anyone else - there are only two Pubmed abstracts that use that phrase in the title, and a handful of other abstracts that use a variation.
According to their definition, everyone (that means you too, dear reader) has "abridged" somatoform disorder if they have a single symptom that "cannot be fully explained by a known general medical condition or the direct effects of a substance". If you are wondering why it was necessary to invent this "disease", here is the explanation straight from the horse's mouth (or backside, you decide):
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3083257/
Did you see the magician's trick? There aren't enough "psychosomatic" patients to show the disease actually exists, according to the published DSM criteria, let alone try to study it. What's a poor psychobabbler to do? Fortunately our hapless researchers know all about the Fukuda "CFS" definition and how easy it is to make the patient cohort as big as you want just by making a little "adjustment' to the criteria.
Dr Coyne explains how this sleight-of-hand guarantees that the study will show CBT "cures" this common disorder that no one has ever heard of:
This isn't Science - it's Science Fiction
I'm sure most folks here are familiar with terms like "psychosomatic", "psychogenic", 'somatoform", "functional" disorders, and "somatization". But how about "Abridged Somatization Disorder"? Never heard of it? Well neither has anyone else - there are only two Pubmed abstracts that use that phrase in the title, and a handful of other abstracts that use a variation.
According to their definition, everyone (that means you too, dear reader) has "abridged" somatoform disorder if they have a single symptom that "cannot be fully explained by a known general medical condition or the direct effects of a substance". If you are wondering why it was necessary to invent this "disease", here is the explanation straight from the horse's mouth (or backside, you decide):
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3083257/
Rasmussen et al said:Coping style in primary care adult patients with abridged somatoform disorders
The unabridged, criterion‐based definition of somatisation disorder (Table 1), ... is rare in primary care because the lifetime prevalence rate ranges from 0.2% to 2% for women and less than 0.2% for men.
In contrast, patients with abridged somatoform disorders have substantially fewer medically unexplained symptoms; nevertheless, they have comparable functional impairment,30 use of healthcare services31 and psychiatric comorbidity,32 and they commonly present in primary care (prevalence rate ranges from 10% to 22%).30
Did you see the magician's trick? There aren't enough "psychosomatic" patients to show the disease actually exists, according to the published DSM criteria, let alone try to study it. What's a poor psychobabbler to do? Fortunately our hapless researchers know all about the Fukuda "CFS" definition and how easy it is to make the patient cohort as big as you want just by making a little "adjustment' to the criteria.
Dr Coyne explains how this sleight-of-hand guarantees that the study will show CBT "cures" this common disorder that no one has ever heard of:
Dr Coyne said:Accepted diagnostic criteria do not yield many cases and so they shifted to “abridged.” The problem is that if they use such a broad and prevalent category, they will get a mildly symptomatic sample that is highly responsive to nonspecific interventions like reassurance, attention, and a rising expectations. They set themselves up for a very placebo responsive sample.
This isn't Science - it's Science Fiction