William Beard

From MEpedia, a crowd-sourced encyclopedia of ME and CFS science and history

Dr Alfred William Beard or Bill Beard (1930-1991) was a British psychiatrist who studied at both Cambridge and Oxford Universities.[1][2]

Benign myalgic encephalomyelitis controversy[edit | edit source]

In 1970, with psychiatrist Colin McEvedy, Bill 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".[3]

Notable studies[edit | edit source]

See also[edit | edit source]

Learn more[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. "Obituary: A W Beard" (PDF). BMJ : British Medical Journal. 302 (6791): 1532. June 22, 1991. ISSN 0959-8138. PMC 1670186.
  2. Hill, OW (1992). "Biography: Alfred William Beard". Royal College of Psychiatrists. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  3. 3.0 3.1 McEvedy, CP; Beard, AW. "Concept of Benign Myalgic Encephalomyelitis". British Medical Journal. 1 (5687): 11–5. doi:10.1136/bmj.1.5687.11. PMC 1700895. PMID 5411596.