Firestorm, you write 'that if someone has not written a letter that does not say 'I believe I have a retrovirus which I think is preferable to having a mental illness'. I think you are suggesting that of course this is ridiculous, and, i would agree. However, when Wessley cites that some people with M.E would seem to prefer having an incurable retrovirus than a possible psychological illness this is of course clever spin, making these people look stupid. The truth as we know, but is not revealed in the current media reports, is that due to Wessley saying in the past that M.E is a psychological illness has directly caused people with M.E only being offered treatment for mental illness which has of course not helped as people with m.e don't have a mental illness but a physical illness. The possibility of a retrovirus is preferable as this is a physical ailment and so there is hope they may be get medical treatment that will help them to improve. They are not actually saying they would prefer to have a retrovirus than a mental illness per se, just in relation to their situation of having M.e which they know to be physical but which is so often treated by the medical profession as being a mental illness, leading to inappropriate therapy and management.
Wessley twists so cleverly what people are saying when they make that comment placing it out of context, making the people look unbalanced. This is so unfair. Rod Liddle in his horrendous article today, like Wessley, also paraphrased Wessley's comment that some people with M.E would rather have an incurable retrovirus than something else. It's just their clever way of trying to portray some people with m.e as unbalanced without giving the whole picture. It's spin.
On another point, you are right of course that the recent coverage in the press and radio in the UK are about Wessley and co allegedly receiving death threats. For a newspaper this makes a juicy story. What i find so disheartening though is that in reporting about this there is no explanation of Wessley's stance in the past about M.e and the fact that his stance has stymied biomedical research into M.E, denying m.e patients potential effective medical treatments. You wrote somewhere that you didn't think Hooper needed to go into Wessley's past, but I don't agree, I think in the name of balance, if an article talkes about Wessley receiving death threats, although they are not condoned, it is vital that background is given as to why some people may lose control and attack Wessley. The newspaper articles and radio shows did not provide this information which made it unbalanced.
Finally, as for Wessley saying that the actions of a few extremists with M.E is preventing scientists getting involved in research into M.E is in my opinion barefaced cheek and another example of spin. It is highly unlikely Wessley's assertion is true. What is far more likely is that as Wessley has aggressively over the decades put forward the theory that M.E is a mental illness, which has subsequently been believed by so many in the medical profession, it has, as often has been often said, caused scientists to not be interested in doing bio medical research as M.e was considered a mental illness and should be steered clear of by scientists interested in looking into bio medical research.
Wessley twists so cleverly what people are saying when they make that comment placing it out of context, making the people look unbalanced. This is so unfair. Rod Liddle in his horrendous article today, like Wessley, also paraphrased Wessley's comment that some people with M.E would rather have an incurable retrovirus than something else. It's just their clever way of trying to portray some people with m.e as unbalanced without giving the whole picture. It's spin.
On another point, you are right of course that the recent coverage in the press and radio in the UK are about Wessley and co allegedly receiving death threats. For a newspaper this makes a juicy story. What i find so disheartening though is that in reporting about this there is no explanation of Wessley's stance in the past about M.e and the fact that his stance has stymied biomedical research into M.E, denying m.e patients potential effective medical treatments. You wrote somewhere that you didn't think Hooper needed to go into Wessley's past, but I don't agree, I think in the name of balance, if an article talkes about Wessley receiving death threats, although they are not condoned, it is vital that background is given as to why some people may lose control and attack Wessley. The newspaper articles and radio shows did not provide this information which made it unbalanced.
Finally, as for Wessley saying that the actions of a few extremists with M.E is preventing scientists getting involved in research into M.E is in my opinion barefaced cheek and another example of spin. It is highly unlikely Wessley's assertion is true. What is far more likely is that as Wessley has aggressively over the decades put forward the theory that M.E is a mental illness, which has subsequently been believed by so many in the medical profession, it has, as often has been often said, caused scientists to not be interested in doing bio medical research as M.e was considered a mental illness and should be steered clear of by scientists interested in looking into bio medical research.
