Articles by David F Marks

"Treatment harms to patients with ME/CFS"

Quote:

- Despite evidence of physiological and cellular abnormalities in myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME)/chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), the dominant therapeutic approach has been cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) and graded exercise therapy (GET). Patients report distress and dissatisfaction following healthcare encounters based on GET and CBT. A significant body of research suggests that CBT and GET are harmful for many patients with ME/CFS. These findings raise ethical concerns and suggest that more collaborative working between scientists, therapists and patients would be helpful in making scientific progress in this difficult field.

https://davidfmarks.com/2021/03/10/treatment-harms-to-patients-with-me-cfs/

 

A clear and concise overview that should be widely shared.

 

"Unhelpful beliefs do not cause ME/CFS and MUS symptoms"

Quote:
The Wessely School approach to ME/CFS and MUS hypothesizes a causative role for unhelpful beliefs (H1), deconditioning (H2), and biased attention (H3).

The evidence related to these three hypotheses is reviewed in turn. Here I consider H1: that unhelpful beliefs cause, or exacerbate, the symptoms of ME/CFS and MUS.

Future posts will review the evidence for H2 and H3.

https://davidfmarks.com/2021/03/11/unhelpful-beliefs-do-not-cause-me-cfs-and-mus-symptoms/

 

"ME/CFS and deconditioning"

Quote:
A previous post examined the Wessely School hypothesis that ME/CFS is caused by unhelpful beliefs. This idea was exploded as a myth. Here I examine a second Wessely School hypothesis (H2) that states:

Deconditioning causes, or exacerbates the symptoms of, ME/CFS and MUS


https://davidfmarks.com/2021/03/12/me-cfs-and-deconditioning/

 

I think unhelpful beliefs do contribute to severity in ME - the unhelpful beliefs of therapists and psychiatrists!

 

It's projection all the way down with these clowns.

 

ME/CFS and biased attention

https://davidfmarks.com/2021/03/13/me-cfs-and-biased-attention/

 

I do not believe that they necessarily believe in their ideas. They do believe they can get away with their claims if they take certain strategies however. They have repeatedly persuaded the medical community for decades, and with no objective evidence of their mechanisms or improvements, while ignoring objective evidence of harms.

 

Whether they do or don't believe their own ideas, this is the important - and damaging - bit:

The medical community - and a substantive portion of the general population (mind over matter, you're in control of your own destiny, etc) plus politicians and government departments, basically everybody who can make our life a misery. Worse, many of them haven't just swallowed those ideas raw, they've become acolytes.

 

There does appear to be more than a bit of zeal for sure.

 

Next article: ME/CFS and the Lightning Process
Here I review research by the Wessely School on the Lightning Process (LP). LP is a pseudoscientific cult founded by Phil Parker, a Tarot reader, specialist in auras and spiritual guides, and an osteopath. It has triggered a spate of shoddy evidence and false claims that brings a new low level to the checkered history of ME/CFS research and care, and the Wessely School now at rock bottom.

https://davidfmarks.com/2021/03/15/me-cfs-and-the-lightning-process/

 

Love the image heading the article.

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Author Lisa de Rijk, is a... ...change consultant,​

Now they are just taking the piss, to see what they can get away with.

 

Would that be a small change consultant?

 

New article: ME/CFS and the SMILE trial

quote:
Implications

1. The SMILE trial contained one of the major methodological problems that occurred in the PACE trial – outcome swapping.
2. The original outcome measure, school attendance at six months, yielded a null result.
3. Repeating the errors of the PACE trial, the SMILE trial used self-reported physical function, a subjective outcome measure rather than an objective one.
4. Media coverage reported the positive outcome (improved self-reported physical function) but tended to not mention the null result concerning school attendance.
5. In seeing a distorted view of the findings, authorities in other countries such as Norway have been persuaded to run further trials on the Lightning Process and to recommend its use for pwME/CFS.

 

"After reviewing results from the feasibility trial, the researchers swapped these outcome measures for the full trial"

I guess we have come to understand what feasibility trials mean to BPS investigators ... assess the feasibility of reporting the most impressive looking outcomes, rather than reporting the most meaningful ones. You just peek halfway through your experiment (by some sleight of methodology or other) to make a "mid-course correction", diverting your results to where you want them to go, rather than to where the evidence takes you.

 

New article:
ME/CFS and CBT - a basic error

Quote:
In facing the mountain of invalidation that the Wessely School is having to endure, it has made the most basic error for any scientist: converting an inconclusive association into a conclusion of causation.

 

eta:

 

https://twitter.com/user/status/1372167705747451910


@dave30th

 

Dog whistle medicine and disability denial – David F Marks

https://davidfmarks.com/2021/03/25/dog-whistle-medicine-and-disability-denial/

Code:

https://twitter.com/newhealthpsych/status/1375085863818952708

 

Seems like Mr Aylward has a habit of getting things wrong:

I do wonder how far this new found reflection and remorse extends. Is Long Covid also covered by this acknowledgment? Or is he going to shove that into the BPS basket?