This woman is seriously starting to piss me off. I won’t bother rambling about the lunacy of Desiree Jennings and her claims of dystonia, or her sudden and amazing woo-covery. Both Orac and Steven Novella have done a fabulous job of deconstructing her fantasy here and here. But I’d like to suggest you read both these explanations of her treatment, and the person responsible for it.
I post this because it’s important to me that my friends (and really, society as a whole) understand that this snake-oil is an insidious lie. I’m not saying that the believers don’t believe, but belief hardly makes truth. There are people who believe that we never landed on the moon. There are even people who believe a righteous and good father figure created everything there is, was, and ever shall be and infused within us through words written by barely literate savages a morality that only the father figure can shit all over.
And in case you want to know more about psychogenic illness and what it really is rather than the dismissive “it’s all in your head” answer, you can read Steven Novella’s excellent article on the topic.
Please, understand that this is a miraculous claim for a miraculous cure, and that miracles are never what they seem to be on the surface.
Jim
Well now, this is interesting indeed!
Looks like the snake oil salesman hit the nail on the head this time! (admittedly by using a really big hammer and trying to hit a bunch of nails with it, but still)
It’s unfortunate though that some people don’t understand that it’s likely that all he’s cured is the hype that her brain has built up around what could be a serious underlying issue, as opposed to the issue itself!
Let’s say I was sick and went to see Dr Rabid Butter. Horray, I’m cured! My brain no longer accepts the idea that what was ailing me is a problem! His magical urine has saved me!
The next day I drop dead from an ulcer…
I hope you’d all write nice posts about it.