Colin McEvedy

Dr Colin Peter McEvedy (1930-2005) was a British consultant psychiatrist McEvedy best known for his research on hysteria, bubonic plague and the history of polio.

Benign myalgic encephalomyelitis controversy
In 1970, Colin McEvedy and fellow psychiatrist A William Beard published an influential study of 15 epidemics of myalgic encephalomyelitis, then known as benign myalgic encephalomyelitis, concluding that the illness was the result of psychosocial phenomena, and caused by either "mass hysteria on the part of patients" or "altered medical perception of the community".

Notable studies

 * 1970, Concept of Benign Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (Full text)

Learn more

 * Colin McEvedy (obituary)