Holmsey
N. Sartorius (ed.) "Psychological Disorders in General Medical Settings" Hogrefe & Huber, 1990. Chapter by Wessely "Chronic fatigue and myalgia syndromes".
See this post from yesterday:
http://forums.aboutmecfs.org/showth...llege-XMRV-Study&p=33178&viewfull=1#post33178
Here it is again:
'The average doctor will see they are neurotic and he will often be disgusted with them' is discussed in "More On The Myth?" by Marshall and Williams.
http://www.sayer.abel.co.uk/MES-Nmoremyth.html
Wessely in this instance was quoting someone from the 1930s, and allegedly criticising him. But Marshall and Williams show that the context was "a chapter by Wessely ("Chronic fatigue and myalgia syndromes") in which some of Wessely's most quoted and damaging statements about ME/CFS appeared". They give as examples:
"Most CFS patients fulfil diagnostic criteria for psychiatric disorder."
"The description given by a leading gastro-enterologist at the Mayo clinic remains accurate: 'the average doctor will see they are neurotic and he will often be disgusted with them'"
"It is of interest that the 'germ theory' is gaining popularity at the expense of a decline in the acceptance of personal responsibility for illness. Such attribution conveys certain benefits; in other words, there is avoidance of guilt and blame."
"It is this author's belief that the interaction of the attributional, behavioural and affective factors is responsible for both the initial presentation to a physician and for the poor prognosis."
Wessely was writing in 1990, not 1890 btw.
Since you think he is worth talking to, you might want to ask him if he believes the other quotes were also taken out of context (i.e. "psychiatric disorder", "avoidance of guilt and blame" and "the interaction of the attributional, behavioural and affective factors").
In looking for the 'original' I kept finding the article you quote. Is Williams in this instance Margaret Williams? If so Simon Wessley claims this is a name that Kate Steward hides behind, I have no way to tell but he at least appears to know what he's talking about indicating they're quite well aquainted.
His allegation regarding this quote, and the reason I want to find it in it's original, as used by Williams is this - and I'm going to paste it as I was sent it, as SW indicates it's a statement he's already made elsewhere,
Several people claim that I once wrote about CFS/ME patients as follows
- "the average doctor will see they are neurotic and will often be
disgusted with them ". If those were my own views then one could
understand the outrage. But they are not. They were written 75 years ago
in the New England Journal of Medicine by Walter Alvarez, a consultant
physician at the Mayo Clinic. Even then, he was making the point that
doctors even at an elite establishment like the Mayo harboured
prejudices against those patients who presented with symptoms that would
nowadays be considered as having chronic fatigue syndrome. He also
continued "and yet these poor people suffer the tortures of the
damned". I used the full quote, fully referenced and in inverted commas,
in a chapter that I wrote for a WHO book back in 1990, suggesting that
not a lot has changed, and that contemporary patients with CFS still get
a raw deal from at least some of the medical profession. It is a point I
have made countless times in print and in the media. Whoever lifted that
quote will have known that my views were the exact opposite of what they
sought to portray.
I'm only interested in facts as they go a long way to establishing the credibility of any author, clearly if SW's claim, that not only was the quote placed out of context, but wrongly assigned to him, and deliberately truncated for extra effect then I'll be very carefull to avoid anything else by Williams, if on the other hand it can be proved that SW is simply in denial of the facts, i.e. lying, then I can move on and join the rest of you in condeming him, not out of hand but based on his own words.
Still trying to find the source, still trying not to pay for it!
