David Aaronovitch Book review “It’s All in Your Head: True Stories of Imaginary Illness by Suzanne O’Sullivan 6th June 2015
Invest in ME have submitted a letter to The Times in response to a review by David Aaronovitch of a book entitled “It’s All in Your Head: True Stories of Imaginary Illness"" by Suzanne O’Sullivan.
In our view this article and extracts from the book seek to retain the myths about ME which have been completely overturned by science and an increasing number of scientists and medical institutions.
We know from previous experience that these media organisations seem to be unaccountable and sloppy and poorly research articles about ME are often published without correct editorial review (we are still awaiting a response from the BBC to our multiple complaints regarding a similar simplistic and under-researched article on their web site).
Ignorance really should not be an option for newspapers which purport to be unbiased.
Normally, nowadays, we would not respond to fatuous articles - rather using our time to continue the more productive route of looking to the future.
Yet the distress that this sound bite-journalism causes to people suffering from this disease necessitates a response in this case.
Below is the letter from IiMER.
Here is the pdf version of our letter - Sir,
The review by David Aaronovitch (Book review “It’s All in Your Head: True Stories of Imaginary Illness by Suzanne O’Sullivan) on 6th June 2015 demonstrates, yet again, that poor research and selective opinions are no inhibitors to an article gracing the pages of The Times’ web site.
O’Sullivan’s book and Aaronovitch’s review includes ME as an example of a possible psychosomatic illness. So it is unfortunate that the author of the book and the reviewer seem to be equally out of date regarding research into ME.
The recent USA Institute of Medicine report on ME/CFS categorically states that ME/CFS is a serious, chronic, complex multi-system disease – not a psychological one.
The NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH PATHWAYS TO PREVENTION WORKSHOP report stated -
“Although psychological repercussions (e.g., depression) often follow ME/CFS, this is not a psychological disease in etiology.”
The CMO CFS/ME Working Group, 2002 recognised that ME is not a psychological disorder.
At the end of May over 60 international researchers from prestigious institutes in thirteen countries gathered in London at a research colloquium on ME organised by the UK charity Invest in ME.
Top researchers from organisations such as Columbia University, Oxford University, Institute of Food Research/University of East Anglia, UCL, Bergen University, Uppsala University, Imperial College and Cornell University presented at the meeting – with none of the speakers referring to or believing ME to be a psychosomatic illness.
Far from it, as more and more evidence is gathered on the underlying pathomechanism of this disease the new strategy of biomedical research is gradually overcoming the bias that has been allowed to be maintained in the establishment press. Your journalists really need to catch up.
It is unfortunate that this book review again stigmatizes ME patients and is allowed publicity due to yet another seemingly orchestrated set of false beliefs allowed to be aired by mediocre editorial control, resisting the reality of ME.
Fortunately there are good and objective researchers such as those who attended the Invest in ME meetings who are curious enough to look further and solve the problem of ME.
ME patients will not lose hope with the currently promising biomedical research which will eventually find the cause of this disease. Unfortunately, like many others, they have already lost hope in expecting any semblance of accurate, unbiased and well-researched reviews and information to be published on this topic in The Times,
Yours Sincerely,
The Chairman and Trustees of Invest in ME
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