I have to say, I have mixed feelings about Judy Mikovitz. -- As a backdrop: -- Back when I lived in Madison, WI, I frequently visited an herb/supplement story called Quintessence. The owner of the store mentioned one day that he hears all kinds of "theories" that people have come to believe in. He said some were so convoluted and "out there", that nobody in their right mind would consider them to be reasonable or credible.
However, he said that when you really dig down into some of these "wild" theories, he found there's almost always an "element" of truth to it.
I've recently watched some of the Judy Mikovitz videos, and as much as I've wanted to giver her the benefit of the doubt for many years, I'm no longer able to give her as much leaway. However, I'm not ready to dismiss
everything she says as total nonsense, as I think she's probably touching on some "elements" of truth as well. Some of the things I found "notable" in these intereviews:
She seems "traumatized" from the experiences she's gone through, and seems to exhibit symptoms of PTSD. She often rambles, and even though she does it credibly enough, it's hard for her to say things in a coherent manner, or articulate an understandable narrative. So I was very often left wondering what she's referrring to. She apparently experienced trauma early on in life in addition to her arrest and jail experiences.
On her potentially politically related comments, she was quite critical of Anthony Fauci, Robert Gallo, and others in leadership at the FDA, CDC, and NIH. Though I doubt all her "details" were accurate, I tend to believe there's at least "elements" in truth in her appraisals. -- When asked about Trump, I though she rather deftly avoided getting into that, which I assume she'll continue to do if she does more interviews. For the most part however, the interviews didn't strike me as overtly political, unless you consider her attitudes toward the major U.S health agencies.
For me, one of the most striking things she said was that the coronavirus and XMRV viruses shared the "almost exact" same "signature" (or something like that). I'm not even sure what that means. Connected to that, she also compared the difficulties people with COVID-19 have with breathing, with the "air hunger" people with XMRV infections (and/or people with ME/CFS) experience. So those were the two things I found intriguing, and wondered if there could possibly be something to that.
On the question of whether these interviews would (or should) be of interest to people with ME/CFS, I would say they likely would be for some of us. I myself found her perspectives on the potential connections between ME/CFS, XMRV, COVID-19, and vaccines to be at least somewhat credible. I don't know the science well enough to say whether it's all accurate, but I am in agreement with her on how the ME/CFS community have been betrayed by the powers that be in Washington D.C. for the better part of the last 3-4 decades.
OK folks, that's my best take on things. I suspect my own narrative may not necessarily be as coherent as I'd like to think it is.
Or that my identification of certain "elements" that could have validity are even remote possibilities. -- One final point: I watched a news segment recently about how a certain ethnic group (Kozacs) in Russia were trying to convince their countrymen about the best way to approach it. When interviewing some other Russians about some of their "out there" views, one elderly woman sweetly replied with a smile on her face, "Honestly, I think everyone goes crazy in their own way".
Though I'm highly skeptical of many things Judy Mikovitz is saying (perhaps especially her notions about how wearing masks will cause dormant viruses in her body to "activate"), I'm inclined to give a LOT of leaway, and allow her to "go crazy in her own way" (I hope my friends will give do this for me as well!
). Though she has lost a lot of credibility with me, I have to say I still appreciate that she sincerely and passionately went to bat for the ME/CFS community. And though her science can't be depended on, there are likely "elements of truth" in some of the things she believes. -- Ironically, I think the same can be said for modern conventional medicine as well.
