Physicians with long Covid confront a medical establishment eager to classify their illness as psychological (2022) Tuller

"Unfortunately, most clinicians are not House. When routine examinations fail to yield results, physicians often conclude that patients are “somatizing”— expressing psychological distress in the form of physical sensations. Patients who reject this psychosomatic view can be dogged about seeking further medical consultations and tests despite having been advised repeatedly that nothing amiss has been found. "

The problem with this reference, if I recall correctly, is that one of the first episodes of House has him being dismissive of a patient with CFS. Other than that, great writing as normal from David.

 

Ha! I had no idea!!! What did he think it was? Did he come around in the end?

 

Not quite. There's a summary here:
https://house.fandom.com/wiki/Tired_Man

ETA: To be fair, when clicking on the link to "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" it says:

On the series, Molnar thinks he might have CFS, but House effectively treats the condition with candy mints. Thus proving that Molnar never suffered from CFS to begin with, seeing as this is not a disease that can be cured by placebo.

https://house.fandom.com/wiki/Chronic_fatigue_syndrome

 

I remember it. First episode, gave the patient tic tacs from a vending machine while being extra condescending, even by House's standards of misanthropy.

 

Yes i remember that House episode.... I only came to House in season 2 (there was no streaming/catch-up back then). And so it was only later when i was a fan, that i came across the CFS episode. I was gutted & watched no further series in protest.

I'm amazed but grateful that Greys hasnt done something on it.

Great article as always though @dave30th

 

Excellent article. Thank you @dave30th. Appreciated you shining the spotlight on the damage done by Devine and Gaffney.

 

Thanks!

 

Well done, @dave30th - excellent article.

 

Following the Guardian piece on gaslighting Long Covid sufferers, Gaffney penned an insolent little Twitter missive reminiscent of the typical BPS standard bearers. I’m curious as to whether he will respond to this composition.

Either way, well done @dave30th! Let’s hope that physicians harangued by these conditions will feel more comfortable publicizing their struggles. That could prove crucial in gaining recognition.

 

Dr Gaffney wrote me back on twitter a couple of weeks ago, a couple of weeks after I'd messaged and e-mailed him. He asked if I was still working on it if he wanted to comment. I said yes. But I didn't hear back after that. Do you have the link to his tweets about the guardian article?

 

good suggestion, thanks

 

We should preemptively pen the BPS missives before they materialize, as I imagine we could almost mirror them verbatim.

These pseudo-philosophical tirades about the folly of separating brain and mind have nothing to do with the BPS approach to post-infectious disease. And to call this reductive when the alternative is false illness beliefs/deconditioning is maddening. It’s the most myopic, simplistic, and banal explanation for our disability fathomable.

I could speculate about Gaffney’s motivations for entering this domain of debate, but irrespective of that, these hackneyed straw men arguments are so predictable and intellectually lazy. I don’t have much of a Twitter presence, but I hope someone with a more robust platform will dissect his response, because it deserves a logical lashing.

 

Wouldn't pyschosocial factors play a role in pretty much all illnesses and pretty much all of interactive living?

How is this vague statement in any way concretely useful?

Of course for those who make such lame statements it's because they wish it to mean 'take your CBT/GET medicine and stop whining about the bio part.'

Again, using the phrase 'psychosocial factors' is a code for them but in reality (where the rest of live) it is a vague hand-wavy thing to say and can rightfully be applied quite broadly.

ETA: word for clarity

 

This. Simply this.
The elephant in the room