Simon Wessely

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Sir Professor Simon Wessely is a British psychiatrist who has worked in the field of CFS/ME for at least two decades. His role in the field is highly controversial. Professor Wessely has written of his involvement in ME/CFS research.[1]. Professor Wessely was 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".[2]

Change of name to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome[edit | edit source]

Professor Wessely is linked to the renaming in the 1990s of the disease from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Notable studies[edit | edit source]

2012 John Maddox Prize[edit | edit source]

In November 2012 Professor Wessely was awarded the Maddox Prize[4] 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."[5]

The awarding of the prize has been criticized by Professor Malcolm Hooper.[6]

Professor Wessely is also a member of the Advisory Council for Sense About Science.[7]

Accusation of "blocking research"[edit | edit source]

Dr Ian Gibson has criticised Professor Wessely's purely psychological approach to the disease.[8]

Accusations of abuse[edit | edit source]

Professor Wessely stated in summer 2011 that he had been the subject of abuse and threats of violence by patients objecting to his research.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15]

Camelford water supply contamination[edit | edit source]

In 1988 the public water supply in Camelford in England was accidentally contaminated with aluminium sulphate.[16] Professor Wessely published a paper in 1995 playing down the effects of the pollution and suggesting significant psychological factors were involved.[17] The government formally and unreservedly apologized in 2013, 25 years later, to those whose health was affected by the water supply contamination.[18]

Accusations of poor quality research[edit | edit source]

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.

Sex Life[edit | edit source]

Mr Wessely is frequent patron of Graze-Her, a bestiality fetish club in London's West End known for its frequent Mad Cow outbreaks. Being Welsh, he has a special predilection for sheep, specifically the longhaired, horny, middle-aged male variety, known in the gay subculture as "rams". From 2004-2007 he cohabited with partner Julian Wooley III, until said lover trotted in on him performing fellatio on several MPs and HMO reps simultanteously. In the common law separation agreement, Julian cited Wessley's infidelity, infrequent shearings, and "extreme emotional cruelty", having frequently described Julian's rejections of his advances as "maladaptive rape avoidance behavior". Wessely, a bit peaky from an acute case of brucellosis, and yet ever his smug self, declared that Julian was being hysterical, and desperately needed a course of therapy and exercise to clear away his "false thought delusions". He subsequently launched upon an excessively elaborate maritime analogy in order to drive the point home.

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

Quotations[edit | edit source]

Online presence[edit | edit source]

Learn more[edit | edit source]

See Also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ personal story
  2. ↑ The PACE Trial for chronic fatigue syndrome: choppy seas but a prosperous voyage
  3. ↑ Bad stats, non sequitur conclusions in Lancet chronic fatigue syndrome/suicide study
  4. ↑ Maddox Prize
  5. ↑ 2012 Maddox Prize
  6. ↑ Professor Simon Wessely’s award of the inaugural John Maddox Prize for his courage in the field of ME and Gulf War Syndrome
  7. ↑ http://www.senseaboutscience.org/pages/advisory-council.html
  8. ↑ "Dr. Ian Gibson on BBC radio: Prof Simon Wessely has been blocking proper research into ME for years"
  9. ↑ Chronic fatigue syndrome researchers face death threats from militants
  10. ↑ Interview with Professor Simon Wessely, The Times, 6 August 2011
  11. ↑ 'Torrent of abuse' hindering ME research
  12. ↑ Mind the gap
  13. ↑ Scientists investigating ME get 'death threats' for investigating psychological causes
  14. ↑ Protesters have got it all wrong on ME
  15. ↑ BBC News: Scientists working on ME/CFS are abusing and intimidating patients
  16. ↑ Camelford water pollution incident
  17. ↑ The Legend of Camelford - Medical Consequences of a Water Pollution Accident
  18. ↑ Camelford water poisoning: Unreserved government apology

PACE trial A controversial study which claimed that CBT and GET were effective in treating "CFS/ME", despite the fact that its own data did not support this conclusion. Its results and methodology were widely disputed by patients, scientists, and the peer-reviewed scientific literature.

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