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I am not above criticizing the "Wessley" school but you have to put these older comments in the context of the times and move on.
And don't say I am siding with Wessley, because I am not toting the "party line" and believing all the forum memes.
I agree with these two lines in particular. I'd wager if you could rake over a couple decades worth of quotes of anyone, you'd find they contradict themselves. I know I would. The danger in looking petty and adversarial is that sense gets lost amidst it. I would criticise Wessely in the way that he places a preference in addressing lacklustre criticisms as opposed to the more robust questions there are to answer. Although you can understand to a point that if there are inaccuracies being circulated about you, your self-interest and vanity is motivated towards addressing them.
I would like to see someone of reasonable status address Wessely or others like White or Sharpe, in a purely academic fashion.
It's not that I'm not a little bit suspicious about their activities, it's just that I really don't care if someone buys them a billion dollar house if it means ME/CFS was cured tomorrow.
Your quote about anger is right Barb, I think it is the biggest obstacle the ME/CFS community has had for sometime. Completely understandable, given the alienation and rejected suffering patients worldwide have had to endure, but it really has to be put behind us or harnessed for positive pursuits.
Lastly I'd also like to point out, that defending Wessely or more widely the BPS model of ME/CFS aetiology is key to criticising them. It's not necessarily some heinous partisan act. It's a key tool in building better criticisms.