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Michael Sharpe on Twitter

When a major player of the PACE Trial Study admits that ME & CFS are not the same and Criteria is important for research, one has to wonder why all these Researchers insist on being as stubborn as the Psychiatric Collaborative.

Replying to @ME_Vereniging

I do agree that this terminology is unclear. It is what official bodies in the UK offer use. I apologise and agree that CFS and ME are best kept separate.

Penelope Jane McMillan suggests an undertone of 'smoke & Mirrors"

"This is much more dangerous than it appears. Sharpe is part of COFFI (PACE becomes MEGA becomes COFFI) who are paving the way for seeking more mega millions for more fatigue research - so it suits them now to support the idea that CFS, defined as Oxford 6 months of unexplained fatigue, is separate from anything those pesky ME advocates should worry about. "Nothing to see here, folks.""

You mean like the #PACEtrial TSC was when you made a false and misleading statement to them saying you didn't have a financial COI when you did?

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Many patients with chronic fatigue syndrome are being held back by a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’, according to a leading researcher. Oxford psychiatrist Professor Michael Sharpe said that some people with the condition do not push themselves to recover. His team today publishes findings which suggest a form of counselling is the most effective way to treat chronic fatigue syndrome, which is also known as ME. The findings are likely to reignite the debate about whether it is a psychiatric condition or a physiological disease. Professor Sharpe insisted that he views the condition to be ‘a real illness’ with serious consequences. But he said patients become terrified of exercise and physical activity for fear that it will make their illness worse.

These fears can be overcome by cognitive behavioural therapy or a gradual increase in exercise, he said. ‘They get locked into a pattern where they do less, they get more concerned about doing more,’ he said. ‘If you live within your limits that becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.’ The ME Association last night dismissed his claims as ‘bunkum’. Dr Charles Shepherd, medical adviser to the charity, said there is clear evidence the disease is rooted in neurological dysfunction and that cognitive behavioural therapy ‘has no role to play in the management of ME’.

Lecture given in October 1999 by Michael Sharpe, hosted by the University of Strathclyde “In my lecture this evening, I would like to talk to you about myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome or CFS (which) for convenience I will refer to as CFS." “We know that in the majority of cases CFS can be effectively treated. CBT has been shown to have substantial benefits for patients with CFS (and) can reduce disability in most patients." “I shall argue that patients themselves have played a part in denying themselves this type of treatment" “Despite a lot of media comment and much hypothesising relating CFS to modern concerns such as toxic exposures, there is very clear evidence that a condition which appears identical caused similar concerns a hundred years ago (and) the causes were thought to lie in the concerns of that time namely, the changing role of women….in our time it is allergy and toxins." “The conventional wisdom is that illnesses are made real when they are legitimised by a doctor’s diagnosis" “Does CFS have biology? Yes – not conventional disease pathology" “The majority of patients with CFS have no doubt how they prefer their conditions to be seen….the vehemence with which many patients insist that their illness is medical rather than psychiatric has become one of the hallmarks of the condition." “Clinically, it appears that interpersonal stress appears to be a major factor giving rise to development of CFS" “Over-solicitousness and the reinforcement of unhelpful illness beliefs can have an unhelpful effect on patients’ attitude and coping" “Purchasers and Health Care providers with hard pressed budgets are understandably reluctant to spend money on patients who are not going to die and for whom there is controversy about the “reality” of their condition (and who) are in this sense undeserving of treatment." “Those who cannot be fitted into a scheme of objective bodily illness yet refuse to be placed into and accept the stigma of mental illness remain the undeserving sick of our society and our health service.”

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