I thought that readers of this site looking for CFS/ME cures would be interested in the comment from Ashok Gupta quoted below, which was left on the article Whoops here we go again.
Ashok Gupta sounds like a really nice polite young man, so please read his comments.
Firstly though I want to share my reasons for being so pedantic at times, which generates the articles I write:
One day some years ago as I lay on the settee, in my nest, I read of someone suffering with CFS/ME and paying a complete FORTUNE for a treatment that didn’t work for them. I felt so incensed on their behalf but what was more annoying is that they didn’t really know what they were paying for, or what the ‘cure’ was. Being a Health Practitioner myself I have always been trained to explain the treatment processes, and what the patient is paying for, and, above all, not to make claims that may not happen for that individual – the operative words to use were ‘may help’. So began my campaign to unearth the roots of supposed CFS/ME cures. At the time (several years ago now) I found Phil Parker’s process particularly elusive.
I received the comment from Ashok Gupta and I think it is only fair that all should be able to read what he says. Ashok has had sight of this article for his approval and permission before it went ‘live’.
His medical paper makes interesting reading and can be found in the Medical Hypothesis
Please see also The Perrin Technique as the two therapies seem to be saying similar things: The symptoms of an overactive sympathetic nervous system in response to psychological stress You can click on this link and scroll down to Precipitating Factors and point Number 1 to find the relevance I am making and then read what Perrin says about his theories. Perrin’s theories can also be found in the Gibson Inquiry blog which was set up to list all the contacts and reports that were made for the Gibson Inquiry on the state of research into CFS/ME.
My personal feeling is that although some kind of psychiatry/cognitive behaviour therapy/counselling/Gupta Amygdala Retraining is useful and appropriate for CFS/ME patients and probably absolutely everyone whether they are ill or not, I do believe it is a physical trigger in the way that Perrin describes that got CFS/ME people ill in the first place.
But that is the age old question – which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Here is Ashok Gupta’s comment:
Dear Marianne,
My name is Ashok Gupta from Gupta Amygdala Retraining, and after having read the article, I would like to clear up a few points here. Firstly I am very open about the medical paper which I wrote, and it is published on my website here:
CFS Recovery
Secondly, let me clear up the idea of “mind retrainingâ€. I can’t speak on behalf of the Lightning Process, but in the processes in my DVD programme, I want to make it absolutely clear that the only person doing the retraining, is the person who has the condition. There is no hypnotherapy involved in the programme, and instead it is about the patient becoming more aware of the patterns which keep their body in an imbalanced state.
You clearly state in your article that:  I find that God and the Bible help me understand myself and my behaviour. I have found myself perceiving a mode of my behaviour and wondering why and looking at ways to change it.†This could not be a better description of my DVD recovery programme. I help people understand the modes of brain activity which are keeping the body ill, and once that awareness has dawned, it is up to the patient to “look at ways to change it.†I offer examples and tools to be able to retrain it which can be edited by the patient to suit their own needs, but they are always in control, and the therapist is not brain washing the person – nothing could be further from the truth – that is an old view of these therapies. If it was that easy we wouldn’t need therapy anymore – it’s always the patient that is making the changes.
I agree with you Marianne, that people can become aware of their own patterns and change them themselves. However, wouldn’t it be nice if a person got a helping hand in this regard, especially from a former sufferer? So many of my patients, once they get well, say to me, “I can’t believe I didn’t figure this out before, now I’m better it seems so obvious! I wish I hadn’t wasted those years not knowing about this.â€
None of my patients have ever felt they have been brainwashed, because it doesn’t work like that. The therapist has no control over the patient, it is more about educating the patient, like a training programme. In a job, you would go on a training programme to learn about how you could improve something about your behaviour, or do something in a better way. No-one would ever say that is brainwashing, the trainer doesn’t control your mind. It is helping you to do something better through educating and retraining your own mind through what you have learnt.
I hope that clears up the situation concerning my programme, and that it is very different to how you are phrasing it within your article,
Warm regards
Ashok Gupta
This programme sounds interesting. I have had ME for a very long time and do a lot to treat myself, so how do I know if I am not doing already the things that he suggests ?
Hi Aradhana, thank you for your comment. Naturally you don’t know if you are doing things to treat yourself that Ashok also advises and so the concern here is presumably – would you be wasting your money?
Going to an exercise class once a week produces far better results than taking yourself through some exercise routines at home so I think the same would be with any treatment programme. Seeing a practitioner provides a discipline which is helpful. It also focusses you to remind you what you should be doing and what you should be avoiding. You also have the expertise of someone you can trust to turn to for advice. I am ‘doing’ the Perrin technique at the moment and one of the many benefits is the joy of talking to someone who understands CFS/ME. I can see with the treatment I am receiving that I have also been instinctively doing the things he suggests but not quite in the right way. My practitioner is also trained in a technique that combines to be very gentle and very effective and I find that I don’t want to miss my sessions despite being able to massage certain areas myself and doing various gentle ‘exercises’. There is no substituting a practitioner (therefore an expert) with self-help (limited knowledge). But I would say that, I am a practitioner myself.
Hi Aradhana,
Hope you are well. Following on from the comments made in response to your post, all I will say is that the DVD programme is highly interactive, and is almost like seeing me personally in the clinic. In fact, some of my patients comment that the DVD programme can be better than seeing me personally because when you see a practitioner you can sometimes forget what they said, whereas with the DVD programme you have access to all the tools continually. And when it comes to motivation, you are encouraged in the programme to keep watching them over to provide that motivation. Finally, there are follow-up sessions available by phone to answer any questions and provide any further insights.
The programme also comes with a money back guarantee that if you notice no improvement within 6 months, you can return it for a refund.
Hope that clears up the situation,
Kind regards
Ashok Gupta
i started the Amygdala programme today. Even from listening to only Session One i am convinced the programme can help me. The programme is quite unique and absolutely full of information about how and why the CFS starts in the first place. I have learnt more in one session about CFS than i learnt in the previous 12 years of being a sufferer under medical care. Ashok Gupta has given me more answers in one day than my GP has in over a decade.
I truly do believe that the Amygdala Retraining Programme should be accessible to all sufferers, but especially those with a new or recent diagnosis. I wouldnt like anyone to have to suffer the descrimination i have suffered at the hands of the DWP, GP and friends and family alike. This programme could go a long long way in changing peoples attitudes towards cfs and also help the sufferers understand their illness instead of living in fear of what they assume is their life being over…
Best wishes
Emerald x
The Amygdala programme cured my cfs/me after 15 years of suffering. I don’t want to get in to rows with what works and what does not work but I’m cured using the Amygdala programme.