Since this problem appears to be unique to (or at least occurring vastly more often in) the UK, I wonder if it has something to do with the Oxford definition which diagnoses mentally ill people with "CFS" and then treats them with the disrespect CFS patients are always subjected to. In other words, the BPS school may have created the monster that it's now oh-so-terrified of.
I still think some of those so-called researchers are completely over-reacting when they call legitimate questions, and FOIA requests "harassment." I doubt they're subjected to as much genuine harassment as they claim. However, if Charles says he and the charities are subjected to
genuine harassment, it's hard to argue that there isn't a serious problem over there.
@charles shepherd, do you have any sense whether this harassment, or at least that which you are intimately aware of, is the work of one or two people only, or is it the work of a larger group? One or two sickos is statistically "normal" and probably just needs to be handled in the usual way we deal with the occasional nasty person. If this is a concerted effort by a large group of people, we as a patient population may need to deal with it as it is damaging our reputation.