Medically unexplained physical symptoms

Medically unexplained physical symptoms (MUPS or MUS) are symptoms for which the doctor is unable to find a cause.

MUS or MUPS are also known as Functional Somatic Symptoms (FSS) or Bodily Distress Syndrome (BDS).

There is currently a PROSPERO systematic review being undertaken by a number of authors including Peter White, first author of the controversial PACE trial for ME/CFS, into MUS.

Criticism and controversy
The whole MUS concept has been criticized especially with wrongly including the neurological disease of ME.

The inclusion of ME/CFS under MUS has been heavily criticized.

NOTE THE KEY POINTS FROM FORUM

An article in Positive Health stated that MUS will divert funding from mental health by wrongly including ME/CFS.

The Countess of Mar has asked questions about the problems of MUS and ME/CFS in the UK's House of Lords.

Dr James Coyne has found that Peter White did not disclose his financial interests with insurers for the PROSPERO review.

A patient advocate has critiqued the basis and motive of the rollout of MUS in the UK.

Medical neglect
Medically unexplained symptoms recommendations includes avoiding doing "unnecessary" diagnostic tests, and avoiding "symptom focusing", leaving people with a physical illness at risk of medical neglect due to the lack of investigation and lack of biomedical treatment.

Improving Access to Psychological Therapies
Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) is the treatment arm of the MUS rollout in the UK.

The Journal of Health Psychology published 'Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) - The Need for Radical Reform' by Michael Scott which used the PACE trial as an example of inflated recover from psychological treatments concluded that the IAPT similarly had little evidence to justify the treatments even for psychological conditions.

The editor of the Journal of Health Psychology, Dr David Marks, published an editorial in July 'IAPT under the microscope' which concluded "A service based on the promise of savings by taking people off benefits is a political hot potato. There is an urgent need for an independent review of IAPT by impartial experts."

Notable studies

 * 2017, Contesting the psychiatric framing of ME/CFS (Full text)

Talk and interviews

 * 2015, Dr Jim Bolton presents Medically Unexplained Symptoms

Learn more

 * Wikipedia - Medically unexplained physical symptoms