UK television this morning - the Lightning Process

[Kate_UK]

This was on ITV's Lorraine Kelly programme this morning, about the Lightning Process.

http://www.itv.com/lorraine/health/me-support/

 

[jace]

That is a straight up commercial for Phil Parker's Lighting Process. Totally out of order. The Lighting Process websites are under investigation by Trading Standards at this time, who say

"there are a number of areas where The Phil Parker Group may have made misleading actions and omissions which constitute breaches of this legislation."

85% success rate claimed? Really? Check out this site The Lightning Process didn't work for me

I must admit that I too would have written a glowing testimonial during the five weeks after because I was still 'geed up' by the process. Also, because the process instructs you to only concentrate on the positive, it is a very convenient method of filtering out any negative and adverse comments. For instance, Phil asked us to email him a few weeks after our training with a progress report but he specifically told us to only mention the positive things that had happened to us and not to mention any negative feelings, symptoms or experiences we'd had, obviously with the laudable aim of concentrating our minds on the positive. It also has the convenient benefit of providing purely positive testimonials for the LP

I did believe the LP could work for me at the time I did it but I am now very angry about the mistreatment I received and the resulting harm it did to my already impaired health. I have now just about got over the resulting relapse but it was another wasted one and a half years and I do not know what long-term damage it has done to my system. Doing the Lightning Process was an extremely expensive mistake for me, both financially and health-wise.

The video was down earlier this morning, but it is back now. Grrr.

 

[anniekim]

Grr, my initial thought I am not going to watch it as I know it's going to annoy me, but I relented and did - and yes it annoyed and upset me. What a push for LP, 85% positive outcome? Oh please! Such a bias report in favour of LP, no interviews with the many people who get much worse from it.

What I observed is we now have docs on tv saying yes M.e is a real, debilitating condition (so progress when they wouldn't even accept it was real), but then they go on to report that three day therapies like LP can help many as well as GET and CBT - so a long way to go still until accurate reporting is the norm...

And these reports are so harmful in generating correct awareness of M.E. This tv show is a big show in Britain and the doctor a very well known tv doc, hearing him extolling the virtues of LP is so bad and Lorraine in reference to LP going 'well you would try anything if you had M.E' yes, Lorraine people have tried LP and it has had a devastating effect. I probably need to write in to the show...

To add, the person they interviewed who claims the LP has helped her considerably described her years of being housebound as feeling 'tired', obviously I don't know the full facts of her symptoms and she may not have described her symptoms very well, but I fail to relate to the word 'tired' when describing my M.E, very ill, yes, in pain, yes, very debilitated, yes, just tired? Er, no.

 

[Snow Leopard]

Is this not false medical advertising?

 

[anniekim]

The doctor on the show is the spokesperson for a diet company, Go lower, makes you wonder if he has any financial links to LP? Pure speculation, of course....

 

[jace]

There are things we can do about this. I telephoned Ofcom (0300 123 3333 FREEPHONE) to register my complaint, and they suggested I also complain to the Advertising Standards Authority, here http://www.asa.org.uk/Complaints/How-to-complain.aspx
So I did. Pretty easy online form.

Ofcom's website, for complaints online, http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/tell-us/

 

[anniekim]

Thanks Jace. Could you share how I should phrase my complaint? How do we say that the promotion of LP is wrong? Many thanks

 

[Kate_UK]

I think we should use the contact link to politely invite Dr Hilary Jones to the CPD accredited IiME conference next week, and to suggest that if he is unable to attend at this short notice that he could get hold of the conference DVD to view in his own time.

 

[maryb]

Jace tried to do an online complaint form, can you or someone else please tell me which boxes to tick - sorry fried brain today and not much wherewithall.

 

[anniekim]

I think we should use the contact link to politely invite Dr Hilary Jones to the CPD accredited IiME conference next week, and to suggest that if he is unable to attend at this short notice that he could get hold of the conference DVD to view in his own time.

Good idea Kate. Where is the contact link you mentioned? Thanks

 

[maryb]

Its okay thanks managed to do it, not very well but hey its still a complaint.

 

[Kate_UK]

Good idea Kate. Where is the contact link you mentioned? Thanks

Naer the top of this site http://www.itv.com/lorraine/health/me-support/ is a link Contact Lorraine's team which goes to http://www.itv.com/lorraine/contactus/

By Email: talk2us@itv.com

Please include your name, contact telephone number and your nearest town. All emails are read and passed on to the relevant department where appropriate. We will try our very best to respond to your enquiries but volume may not always allow us to do so. We look forward to hearing from you.

 

[taniaaust1]

oh boy.. that english situation is so bad and this is all going to make it worst. Its sooo biased that only things geared to making it look like a mental health issue are usually put into the public view.

 

[Klara]

Yep - lets just tell ourselves everything is ok, and it will be!

LP sounds like very expensive CBT to me, I wonder how people can charge for this. It also sounds a lot like Landmark to me... and I really don't like Landmark.

Sorry, just had to vent a little guys, this stuff really gets my blood boiling - sigh.

 

[Kate_UK]

I think we should use the contact link to politely invite Dr Hilary Jones to the CPD accredited IiME conference next week, and to suggest that if he is unable to attend at this short notice that he could get hold of the conference DVD to view in his own time.

Anyone on twitter? Dr Jones is here http://twitter.com/#!/DrHilaryJones talking about the piece he did on ME yesterday, and Phil Parker has also posted a message there.

 

[Snow Leopard]

Perhaps next week Dr Jones can invite Dr Barbara Ehrenreich on the show for a counterpoint.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jan/09/barbara-ehrenreich-smile-lucy-ellmann
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-october-14-2009/barbara-ehrenreich

 

[jace]

There's a petition up to put pressure on Lorraine Kelly to redress the balance. You may want to sign it. http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/petition-to-have-lorraine-show-a-real-m-e-sufferer-o.html

 

[Ian]

Just the very thought of the lighting process makes me vomit in my mouth a little. What a scam ! I am sure it's made Phil Parker a very rich man

 

[Wildcat]

On Dr Hilary Jones' Facebook Page to day an ME sufferer politely suggested that he might like to attend the Invest in ME international Research Conference. The post was removed from Dr Jones' FB (not by the mE sufferers). It turns out he has been invited before by Invest in ME but has declined to attend.

The whole portrayal of ME was insulting, and for Dr Jones to promote Lightning, propagate the stale old line that "ME is controversial" yet decline invitations to become more informed about ME - its shocking.