1) New blog post in which Evelien and I analyze Canadian historian Edward Shorter’s view on ME/CFS.

“If ME/CFS is an attempt to avoid stigma, it could be considered one of the most unsuccessful attempts ever” https://mecfsskeptic.com/from-paralysis-to-fatigue-a-critical-review-of-edward-shorters-view-on-chronic-fatigue-syndrome/

2) When someone writes extremely dismissively about ME/CFS, it is common to find a mention of Edward Shorter in their references (if they have any). Good examples are Elaine Showalter and Cees Renkens who both dismissed ME/CFS as a modern form of hysteria.

3) Most of Shorter’s statements on ME/CFS do not make a lot of sense. He suggests for example that the diagnosis of ME/CFS contributes to disability – but US prevalence studies have shown that the majority of people with the illness are undiagnosed.

4) Shorter says that he looked at etiology and response to placebo treatment to determine if symptoms were psychogenic in nature.

But ME/CFS has no effective treatment and is known to be triggered by infections.

5) His main hypothesis states that patients somaticize their psychological distress into symptoms that could suggest an organic illness so that their complaints are taken more seriously.

But ME/CFS results in the opposite of being taken seriously.

6) Shorter argued that postmodern family life with its reduced social contacts and the influence of the media resulted in the rise of “goofy illness attributions” such as ME/CFS.

Contrary to what he thought people with ME/CFS are not more frequently unmarried or divorced.