It is quite unbelievable that a psychiatrist should admit to stopping doing research on an illness because of 'threats and abuse'. Threats and abuse are a daily experience for all psychiatrists and not that uncommon for other medics trying to help people in distress. If you are a psychiatrist you are expected to handle paranoia, psychopathy, mania and all sorts of other conditions which include threats and abuse very often. Yet a psychiatrist with any respect for the patients would take this in their stride.
It is just incredible that a psychiatrist should think that they are justified to wimp out of their profession in this way. It is pretty terrifying that the British psychiatric establishment have enough respect for this behaviour to vote him in as their president. I have huge respect for those psychiatrists who handle serious mental health problems - including those who saved my wife's life. In comparison Wessely's behaviour seems demeaning to the medical profession as a whole.
The media has been claiming Wessely had retired from CFS research since the Sarah Bosely Guardian articles in 2001:
“Prof Wessely has quit the field – and is not the only professional to have ceased involvement with CFS.”
Storm brews over ‘all in mind’ theory of ME, 20 September 2001
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,554693,00.html
“Simon Wessely, of the Department of Psychological Medicine at Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’s School of Medicine in London, is a former key figure in the study of ME/CFS who has felt the heat and largely backed out of the kitchen.”
A very modern epidemic, Guardian, 27 September 2001
http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/medicalscience/story/0,,559001,00.html
In 2008, on my now archived ME agenda site, I listed his output for CFS papers published between 2002 and 2008. Not bad for someone who had "retired".
Roberts A, Papadopoulos AS,
Wessely S, Chalder T, Cleare AJ.
Salivary cortisol output before and after cognitive behavioural therapy for chronic fatigue syndrome
Journal of Affective Disorders, 2008, Oct.
Cho HJ, Bhugra D,
Wessely S.
‘Physical or psychological?’- a comparative study of causal attribution for chronic fatigue in Brazilian and British primary care patients. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2008 Jul;118(1):34-41. Epub 2008 May 22. PMID: 18498433 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
1: Harvey SB, Wadsworth M,
Wessely S, Hotopf M.
Etiology of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Testing Popular HypothesesPsychosom Med. 2008 Mar 31; [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 18378866 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]
2: Cho HJ, Menezes PR, Bhugra D,
Wessely S.
The awareness of chronic fatigue syndrome: A comparative study in Brazil and the United Kingdom.
J Psychosom Res. 2008 Apr;64(4):351-5. PMID: 18374733 [PubMed – in process]
11: Kanaan RA, Lepine JP,
Wessely SC.
The association or otherwise of the functional somatic syndromes
J Psychosom Med. 2007 Dec;69(9):855-9. Review. PMID: 18040094 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
12: Rimes KA, Goodman R, Hotopf M,
Wessely S, Meltzer H, Chalder T.
Incidence, prognosis, and risk factors for fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome in adolescents: a prospective community study.
Pediatrics. 2007 Mar;11 (3):e603-9. PMID: 17332180 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
23: Quarmby L, Rimes KA, Deale A,
Wessely S, Chalder T.
Cognitive behaviour therapy for chronic fatigue syndrome: comparison of outcomes within and outside the confines of a randomised controlled trial.
Behav Res Ther. 2007 Jun;45(6):1085-94. Epub 2006 Oct 30. PMID: 17074300 [PubMed – in process]
32: Jerjes WK, Taylor NF, Peters TJ,
Wessely S, Cleare AJ.
Urinary cortisol and cortisol metabolite excretion in chronic fatigue syndrome.
Psychosom Med. 2006 Jul-Aug;68(4):578-82. PMID: 16868267 [PubMed – in process]
43: Reid S, Chalder T, Cleare A, Hotopf M,
Wessely S.
Chronic fatigue syndrome.Clin Evid. 2005 Dec;(14):1366-78. Review. No abstract available. PMID: 16620458 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
44: Cho HJ, Skowera A, Cleare A,
Wessely S.
Chronic fatigue syndrome: an update focusing on phenomenology and pathophysiology.Curr Opin Psychiatry. 2006 Jan;19(1):67-73. Review. PMID: 16612182 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
52: Jerjes WK, Peters TJ, Taylor NF, Wood PJ,
Wessely S, Cleare AJ.
Diurnal excretion of urinary cortisol, cortisone, and cortisol metabolites in chronic fatigue syndrome.J Psychosom Res. 2006 Feb;60(2):145-53. PMID: 16439267 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
54: Huibers MJ,
Wessely S.
The act of diagnosis: pros and cons of labelling chronic fatigue syndrome.Psychol Med. 2006 Jul;36(7):895-900. Epub 2006 Jan 10. Review. PMID: 16403245 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
60: Cho HJ,
Wessely S.
Chronic fatigue syndrome: an overview.Rev Bras Psiquiatr. 2005 Sep;27(3):174-5. Epub 2005 Oct 4. No abstract available. PMID: 16224602 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
71: Jerjes WK, Cleare AJ,
Wessely S, Wood PJ, Taylor NF.
Diurnal patterns of salivary cortisol and cortisone output in chronic fatigue syndrome.
J Affect Disord. 2005 Aug;87(2-3):299-304. PMID: 15922454 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
73: Reid S, Chalder T, Cleare A, Hotopf M,
Wessely S.
Chronic fatigue syndrome.
Clin Evid. 2004 Dec;(12):1578-93. Review. No abstract available. Update in: Clin Evid. 2005 Dec;(14):1366-78. PMID: 15865734 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
74: Cho HJ, Hotopf M,
Wessely S.
The placebo response in the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome: a systematic review and meta analysis.
Psychosom Med. 2005 Mar-Apr;67(2):301-13. Review. PMID: 15784798 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE] MEagenda 09:42, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
91: Reid S, Chalder T, Cleare A, Hotopf M,
Wessely S.
Chronic fatigue syndrome.
Clin Evid. 2003 Dec;(10):1289-303. Review. No abstract available. Update in: Clin Evid. 2004 Dec;(12):
103: Woolley J, Allen R,
Wessely S.
Alcohol use in chronic fatigue syndrome.
J Psychosom Res. 2004 Feb;56(2):203-6. PMID: 15016579 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
104: Winkler AS, Blair D, Marsden JT, Peters TJ,
Wessely S, Cleare AJ.
Autonomic function and serum erythropoietin levels in chronic fatigue syndrome.
J Psychosom Res. 2004 Feb;56(2):179-83. PMID: 15016575 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
106: Roberts AD,
Wessely S, Chalder T, Papadopoulos A, Cleare AJ.
Salivary cortisol response to awakening in chronic fatigue syndrome.
Br J Psychiatry. 2004 Feb;184:136-41. PMID: 14754825 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
109: Lyall M, Peakman M,
Wessely S.
A systematic review and critical evaluation of the immunology of chronic
fatigue syndrome.J Psychosom Res. 2003 Aug;55(2):79-90. Review. PMID: 12932505 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
118: Fischhoff B,
Wessely S.
Managing patients with inexplicable health problems.
BMJ. 2003 Mar 15;326(7389):595-7. Review. No abstract available. PMID: 12637409 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
119: Reid S, Chalder T, Cleare A, Hotopf M,
Wessely S.
Chronic fatigue syndrome.
Clin Evid. 2002 Dec;(8):1075-88. Review. No abstract available. Update in: Clin
Evid. 2003 Dec;(10):1289-303. PMID: 12603930 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
122:
Wessely S.
Women experienced chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia as stigmatising.Evid Based Ment Health. 2002 Nov;5(4):127. No abstract available. PMID: 12440469 [PubMed]
125: Reid S, Chalder T, Cleare A, Hotopf M,
Wessely S.
Chronic fatigue syndrome.
Clin Evid. 2002 Jun;(7):966-78. Review. No abstract available. Update in: Clin Evid. 2002 Dec (8):1075-88. PMID: 12230719 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
134: Reid S,
Wessely S, Crayford T, Hotopf M.
Frequent attenders with medically unexplained symptoms: service use and costs in secondary care. Br J Psychiatry. 2002 Mar;180:248-53. PMID: 11872517 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
136: Clark C, Buchwald D, MacIntyre A, Sharpe M,
Wessely S.
Chronic fatigue syndrome: a step towards agreement.
Lancet. 2002 Jan 12;359(9301):97-8. No abstract available. Erratum in: Lancet
2002 Apr 13;359(9314):1352. Lancet 2002 May 25;359(9320):1866. PMID: 11809249 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]