Simon Wessely

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Revision as of 23:59, March 1, 2018 by Kmdenmark (talk | contribs) (added study and ref)
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Sir Professor Simon Wessely, M.A., M.Sc., M.D., F.R.C.P., M.R.C.Psych., is a British psychiatrist based at King's College London and is President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. [1] He became Director of the Chronic Fatigue Research Unit at King's College London in 1994, setting up a clinic for chronic fatigue syndrome at Maudsley Hospital, a psychiatric hospital.

Professor Wessely has written of his involvement in myalgic encephalomyelitis/ chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) research.[2]. Serving as an advisor to the PACE trial investigators, Professor Wessely has defended the PACE trial, stating "this trial was a landmark in behavioural complex intervention studies."[3]

Notable studies[edit | edit source]

Books[edit | edit source]

2012 John Maddox Prize[edit | edit source]

In November 2012 Professor Wessely was awarded the Maddox Prize[7] by Sense About Science who stated "Simon Wessely, Professor of Psychological Medicine at King's College London, was awarded the Prize for his ambition and courage in the field of ME (chronic fatigue syndrome) and Gulf War syndrome, and the way he has dealt bravely with intimidation and harassment when speaking about his work and that of colleagues."[8]

The awarding of the prize has been criticized by Professor Malcolm Hooper.[9]

Professor Wessely is also a member of the Advisory Council for Sense About Science.[10]

Controversies & criticism[edit | edit source]

Accusation of "blocking research Dr Ian Gibson has criticised Professor Wessely's purely psychological approach to the disease.[11]

Accusations of abuse Professor Wessely stated in summer 2011 that he had been the subject of abuse and threats of violence by patients objecting to his research.[12][13][14][15][16][17][18]

Camelford water supply contamination In 1988 the public water supply in Camelford in England was accidentally contaminated with aluminium sulphate.[19] Professor Wessely published a paper in 1995 playing down the effects of the pollution and suggesting significant psychological factors were involved.[20] The government formally and unreservedly apologized in 2013, 25 years later, to those whose health was affected by the water supply contamination.[21]

Accusations of poor quality research In 2000 Wessely & fellow researchers were accused of "unsupported conclusions derived from faulty analyses", and responded that "we've been attacked by gremlins" who changed the data on their manuscript.

Talks, Interviews, & Newspaper articles[edit | edit source]

Quotations[edit | edit source]

Online presence[edit | edit source]

Directorships and Shareholdings[edit | edit source]

Simon Charles Wessely is a director and has held a total of 5 appointments. He is a director of the Science Media Centre (Company number 07560997.

Learn more[edit | edit source]

See Also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. Royal College of Psychiatrists: Simon Wessely
  2. personal story
  3. The PACE Trial for chronic fatigue syndrome: choppy seas but a prosperous voyage
  4. Bad stats, non sequitur conclusions in Lancet chronic fatigue syndrome/suicide study
  5. Deale, A., & Wessely, S. (2000). Diagnosis of psychiatric disorder in clinical evaluation of chronic fatigue syndrome. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 93(6), 310–312.
  6. Sharpe, M; Chalder, T; Palmer, I; Wessely, S (1997), "Chronic fatigue syndrome. A practical guide to assessment and management" (PDF), Gen Hosp Psychiatry, 19 (3): 185-99, doi:10.1016/S0163-8343(97)80315-5, PMID 9218987
  7. Maddox Prize
  8. 2012 Maddox Prize
  9. Professor Simon Wessely’s award of the inaugural John Maddox Prize for his courage in the field of ME and Gulf War Syndrome
  10. http://www.senseaboutscience.org/pages/advisory-council.html
  11. "Dr. Ian Gibson on BBC radio: Prof Simon Wessely has been blocking proper research into ME for years"
  12. Chronic fatigue syndrome researchers face death threats from militants
  13. Interview with Professor Simon Wessely, The Times, 6 August 2011
  14. 'Torrent of abuse' hindering ME research
  15. Mind the gap
  16. Scientists investigating ME get 'death threats' for investigating psychological causes
  17. Protesters have got it all wrong on ME
  18. BBC News: Scientists working on ME/CFS are abusing and intimidating patients
  19. Camelford water pollution incident
  20. The Legend of Camelford - Medical Consequences of a Water Pollution Accident
  21. Camelford water poisoning: Unreserved government apology
  22. Twitter