A dualistic view of illness doesn’t help those with ME/CFS | Letters

Peter White, Trudie Chalder and Michael Sharpe, and Dr Jake Hollis, respond to an article by George Monbiot

We agree with George Monbiot that the death of Maeve Boothby O'Neill was tragic and should have been avoided. Unfortunately, Monbiot draws generalisations from her sad death that are based on a view of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) that is itself outdated (Maeve Boothby O'Neill died because of a discredited view of ME. How was this allowed to happen?, 18 October).

Monbiot suggests such illnesses are generally thought of as either physiological or psychological. This is an outdated dualistic view of any illness, let alone ME/CFS. It has been shown that many such illnesses are the result of a dynamic interaction between biological, psychological and social mechanisms. Just one example of our own research showed the important role of certain viruses in triggering the illness.