Wessely school

The Wessely school is an informal name used to refer to the school of thought followed by a group of researchers and clinicians who promote psychiatrist Prof. Simon Wessely's biopsychosocial model (BPS) understanding ME/CFS. The Wessely school is based in the UK and is extremely influential, and research conducted by participants in the Wessley school has received millions [ of British pounds] in UK funding for highly controversial clinical trials of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and Graded Exercise Therapy (GET).

The Wessely school is dominated by psychiatrists and psychologists, but also includes some physiotherapists, occupational health clinicians, and a few general practitioners.

Beliefs and Evidence

 * Simon Wessely has referred to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and CFS/ME as "medically unexplained symptoms" on many occasions, meaning a somatic disorder (mental illness)
 * Simon Wessely has also referred to neuroanaesthesia as the previous name for ME/CFS
 * Simon Wessley wrote a textbook on behalf of the Institute of Psychiatry, a World Health Organization (WHO) collaborating center which started that CFS was classed as a psychiatric illness; the WHO released a letter in response stating that the WHO classified ME/CFS/PVFS as only a neurological illness, and that the use of the logo did not imply that they had endorsed the views in it. The second edition of the book was altered to refer to it as only a neurological illness.


 * Conducting biological or physical tests is actively avoided


 * Dysfunctional illness beliefs are believed to exist in patients with ME/CFS


 * The role of the physical symptoms of patients should be minimized, they are based on deconditioning (or exist only in the patients' beliefs)
 * Patients "simulate" muscle weakness


 * Patients who receive health insurance payouts or disability benefits are believed to have a lower prospect of recovery; "secondary gain" and assuming a "sick role" allow them to "manipulate" others, and are considered obstacles to recovery


 * Patients have been criticized by some of the Wessely school for "harassment", including submitting Freedom of Information Act requests for data resulting from clinical trials involving some if the Wessley school
 * CFS/ME is the preferred term for both CFS and myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), which are the same
 * ME is a belief in an illness, rather than an illness
 * There has been some confusion over Professor Wessely's beliefs; he declined to give a written or oral statement to clarify them to the Group on Scientific Research into ME

Members of the Wessely school

 * Simon Wessely - psychiatrist and Wessely school founder


 * Michael Sharpe - psychiatrist and Wessely school proponent


 * Peter White - psychiatrist and Wessely school proponent


 * Trudie Chalder - former registered mental health nurse, and proponent of CBT for CFS


 * Anthony Cleare


 * Elena Garralda

Supporters of the Wessely school
Malcolm Hooper lists the following as supporters of the Wessely school.

Notable studies

 * PACE trial


 * FINE trial


 * MAGENTA trial

Location
Followers of the Wessely school are based in a number of different locations:


 * Queen Mary University (see PACE trial)
 * King's College Hospital - Simon Wessely
 * Institute of Psychiatry - Simon Wessely
 * St Bartholomew's Hospital, London
 * Edinburgh

Funding, Influence and Conflicts of interest
The UK's Medical Research Council provides a great deal of funding to research by Wessley school proponents. The UK's Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which provides social security payments for people with disabilities or on very low incomes, also provided considerable funding to the PACE trial - despite never previously funding health research.

The initial Wessley school conference, which took place in 1988, was sponsored by drug company Novartis.

A number of members of the Wessely school have undertaken work for private health insurance companies including UNUM Insurance, the DWP, and pharmaceutical companies.

Simon Wessely played a key role in developing the previous National Health Service (NHS) treatment guidelines for ME/CFS, known as the NICE guidelines. He was not directly involved with the 2007 update, nor is he believed to be part of the current working group revising those guidelines.

Prof. Wessely also provided the previous Cochrane reviewers with extremely extensive publications.

Influence
The Wessely school is extremely influential, and Prof Simon Wessely is a past president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Criticism of the Wessley school

 * Margaret Williams
 * Countess of Mar
 * The Group on Scientific Research into ME, which included Countess Mar
 * Thirty years of disdain - Mary Dimmock criticises Simon Wessely and the Wessely school, and others promoting biopsychosocial theories


 * Malcolm Hooper


 * Tom Kindlon and Alem Matthees, both advocates with ME, have re-analyzes the PACE trial data


 * MEActionUK

Learn more

 * Countess of Mar - Hansard Debate, UK Parliament