# Linda Sepp - Multiple Chemical Sensitivities 'Sufferer'... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 9, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-sepp-multiple-chemical-sensitivities-sufferer/538829 "2010-05-09T19:38:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-sepp-multiple-chemical-sensitivities-sufferer/538829/41 "2010-05-10T22:47:36Z")
Many years after it was first proposed, MCS remains [a highly controversial diagnosis](http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/mcs.html). \*"“Multiple chemical sensitivity” is not a legitimate diagnosis. Instead of testing their claims with well-designed research, its advocates are promoting them through publications, talk shows, support groups, lawsuits, and political maneuvering (such as getting state governors to designate a Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Awareness Week). Many are also part of a network of questionable legal actions alleging injuries by environmental chemicals. Many people diagnosed with “MCS” suffer greatly and are very difficult to treat. Well-designed investigations suggest that most of them have a psychosomatic disorder in which they develop multiple symptoms in response to stress. If this is true—and I believe it is—clinical ecology patients run the risks of misdiagnosis, mistreatment, financial exploitation, and/or delay of proper medical and psychiatric care. In addition, insurance companies, employers, other taxpayers, and ultimately all citizens are being burdened by dubious claims for disability and damages."\* [Research trials](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_chemical_sensitivity) have not turned up convincing evidence for the existence of MCS. _“Double-blinded placebo controlled trials indicate people diagnosed with MCS do not reproducibly have symptoms when exposed to chemicals. In a 1993 study, MCS subjects could not discriminate between their chemical triggers and clean air when an olfactory masker was introduced that eliminated the ability to discriminate on the basis of odor. In a more recent study (2008), a variety of responses including the subjective perception of being exposed to solvents, increases in blood pressure or heart rate, or increased symptom severity were measured following the double-blinded exposure to several solvents. People with MCS diagnosis showed no differences in these parameters when they were exposed to clean air or to solvents at a concentration too low to smell. The trial did not support the hypothesis that MCS is directly related to the effects of chemical exposures. Since MCS sufferers seem to only have symptoms when they perceive exposure to chemicals, it has been proposed that the syndrome is a result of odor hypersensitivity in which individuals have an exaggerated response to scents, or psychological factors.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Perciful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-sepp-multiple-chemical-sensitivities-sufferer/538829/42 "2010-05-11T00:18:58Z")
This seems to be more them MCS. She seems to be out of touch with reality. Why does she need a three bedroom home on three acres of land? It also has to have Feng Shui? What does Feng Shui have to do with MCS? I think she is being unreasonable about her accommodations and as my mom used to say, “Beggars can’t be choosers”. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-sepp-multiple-chemical-sensitivities-sufferer/538829/43 "2010-05-11T00:51:31Z")
I just don’t understand why so many people want to jump from “She has a mental disorder” to “She is a horrible person” (and one poster’s “Let’s risk killing her and making any phobia worse.” I hate, hate these value statements made about mentally ill people. I can’t see how they aren’t a form of bigotry. ---
**Author:** ![drpepper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@drpepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drpepper)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-sepp-multiple-chemical-sensitivities-sufferer/538829/44 "2010-05-11T02:00:46Z")
> [@B.Serum](#): > > **My mom is identical to this person.** > > The condition, whatever it may be, causes a lot of consternation in our family. Whenever us kids or our SO’s visit back home, we have to use special scent-free soaps and shampoos. Our clothes must have been laundered with scent-free detergent. No laundry sheets. She no longer uses any electrical appliance due to the electro-magnetic fields they give off, especially the computer. She only speaks on the telephone via a speakerphone so she doesn’t get to close to the emissions. Fragrances have long been a chief source of headaches, but her sensitivity has grown so acute that she frequently has to wear a surgical-type mask when out in public. Though she’s always been a foodie, the range of foods she can now eat are limited to some of the most bland, unseasoned foods you can imagine. > > There is much debate amongst some in the family as to the legitimacy of this condition — my mom does tend to focus on the negative, is a bit alarmist and a bit of a hypochondriac. As long as I can remember, she’s always had some debilitating condition that she would remind us that she suffered from: the earliest I heard about was arthritis, then Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and now Multiple Chemical Sensitivities. She does go to a woo-woo doctor who “clears” her for certain substances but she never seems to get better. > > But on the other hand, I have seen her break out in a dramatic rash after one such exposure, and the lengths to which she’s had to isolate herself from the world is far above and beyond what I believe even the most self-involved attention-getter would subject themselves to. **Moreover, she legitimately hates what this has done to her life and how it’s strained her relationship with the people that matter most to her.** She knows full-well that most people believe MCS to be bullshit and responds that her and people like her are the “canary in the coal mine” people will look at when this condition becomes more widespread. Moreover, assuming for a moment that MCS is a real deal, how frustrating would it be to have a condition that evades diagnosis and is ignored by the medical profession? I would imagine that it could turn even the most level-headed person into a “Cassandra.” > > For me, the jury is still out. For me it’s too close to home for me to callously dismiss it as “bullshit” and impugn the character of people who are clearly suffering from something, regardless of whether we or they understand the exact nature of it. Wow, just wow. All very interesting, particularly the part I bolded, just from a purely observational viewpoint. I was going to detail an account of a passing acquaintance, who I just ran into after a couple years, having this, and the details she gave me about her current condition, but you are much closer to such a situation and it’s more interesting, given that it’s your mother and you are a Doper and [therefore] somewhat of a skeptic. (One anecdote only: my acquaintance mentioned that, re. her workplace problems, there was an incident with the forced air spray things used to clean computer keyboards and the like. “. .. did you know that they are actually chemicals? I didn’t realize it either but apparently the night cleaning staff used them and when I came in the next day I had a reaction and pinned it down to that blah blah blah…” which immediately pinged my bullshit meter.) I will also mention, isn’t it entirely possible to develop a rash as a result of a purely psychosomatic condition? I’m fairly certain that that’s a well-established phenomenon. It’s just stunning to me hearing the description of your mother, **B. Serum** ; her apparent conscious \*dislike and resistance \* to the situation belies it being a made-up thing. Thanks for taking the time to share the details. ---
**Author:** ![abderian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@abderian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abderian)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-sepp-multiple-chemical-sensitivities-sufferer/538829/45 "2010-05-11T02:04:33Z")
Like I said, I try hard to be compassionate, but if this is a mental illness, it’s certainly being presented as something else. This woman is a bit of a celebrity in a certain circle, with a group of supporters (at [www.thecanaryreport.com](http://www.thecanaryreport.com)) who seem to believe that the cold cruel world is not treating her right by denying her free housing to a standard of living that so many others can’t afford. Are these mere groupies for the mentally ill? Are they all mentally ill as well? Where is the line between a mentally ill person and plain old attention-seekers or those who seek ways for the world to provide them with a comfortable lifestyle at no cost? I don’t have the answers, but there are certainly a few red flags in this situation. I have relatives who will invent or exaggerate any minor injury for whatever compensation they can get, and who appear to have spent their whole lives watching for opportunities for financial gain. Sadly, there are always a small group of “oh you poor thing” supporters who encourage such behavior. I don’t know if that’s mental illness or just a sleazy, dishonest personality trait, but I _do_ make a value judgment about that: it’s disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-sepp-multiple-chemical-sensitivities-sufferer/538829/46 "2010-05-11T02:22:31Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I just don’t understand why so many people want to jump from “She has a mental disorder” to “She is a horrible person” Some of us may have had our perception coloured by being utterly paralyzed for a decade, caring for someone with largely psychosomatic complaints who was increasingly caught out in bald-faced, transparently manipulative lies about their condition. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-sepp-multiple-chemical-sensitivities-sufferer/538829/47 "2010-05-11T02:31:07Z")
I’m sitting here next to a jar of Udderly Smooth hand cream. I’m trying to decide if I can survive the scent or if I have to throw the whole thing away. It’s brand new and it was pretty cheap, admittedly, so I’d hate to toss it. But even a brief encounter with the scent has got me on the edge of a migraine. Scents are funny things. I get that certain odors or chemicals can cause genuine physical distress. It makes perfect sense that some people can be sensitive to certain chemicals. And I’m not even opposed to providing her with a clean, simple environment, if that’s what she needs to be healthy. It just doesn’t sound like what she wants would provide her with what she says she needs. And what she’s been offered sounds like genuine attempts to me those needs, even if they’re not quite what she wants. And it’s not clear to me that she does in fact need what she says she needs, for all the reasons mentioned above. So I’m not saying that I think she’s faking it, exactly. Just that it doesn’t all add up. I do hope in the end, if she tries, she gets what she needs (which might not be any sort of a house at all, but almost certainly isn’t a house full of goats.) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-sepp-multiple-chemical-sensitivities-sufferer/538829/48 "2010-05-11T02:51:28Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > Scents are funny things. I get that certain odors or chemicals can cause genuine physical distress. It makes perfect sense that some people can be sensitive to certain chemicals. Allergies to a great variety of things, synthetic and “natural” are quite common. Being sensitive to _all_ manmade products to the point of severe illness which cannot be reliably documented, is an unproven and highly dubious proposition. > [@drpepper](#): > > I will also mention, isn’t it entirely possible to develop a rash as a result of a purely psychosomatic condition? Yes. You can even develop severe symptoms from a placebo. I don’t doubt that people who believe they have MCS are in marked distress over their condition. Placing them in a bubble-like environment and/or paying quacks for “detoxification” or “cleansing” is not the help they need. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-sepp-multiple-chemical-sensitivities-sufferer/538829/49 "2010-05-11T03:00:16Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Allergies to a great variety of things, synthetic and “natural” are quite common. > > Being sensitive to _all_ manmade products to the point of severe illness which cannot be reliably documented, is an unproven and highly dubious proposition.Yes. You can even develop severe symptoms from a placebo. > > I don’t doubt that people who believe they have MCS are in marked distress over their condition. Placing them in a bubble-like environment and/or paying quacks for “detoxification” or “cleansing” is not the help they need. I would say that by awarding this woman a 3 acre “bubble” complete with guest house and a barn for goats and ducks, all paid for courtesy of the Canadian taxpayer, may trigger a rapid and dramatic increase of other MCS “sufferers” coming out of the woodwork for similar treatment… ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-sepp-multiple-chemical-sensitivities-sufferer/538829/50 "2010-05-11T07:32:16Z")
> [@drpepper](#): > > It’s just stunning to me hearing the description of your mother, **B. Serum** ; her apparent conscious \*dislike and resistance \* to the situation belies it being a made-up thing. Thanks for taking the time to share the details. Yes and no. My mother doesn’t enjoy having to run to the throne, or the accompanying bellyaches, but she doesn’t dislike it enough to avoid those foods which trigger it; she even does purposefully eat them on days when the plans do not please her (thus managing to derail them and make herself the center of attention). My grandmother doesn’t like having joint pain, but it has gotten a lot worse very fast because, in order to avoid it, she barely moves all day. My other grandmother lived with joint pain for a lot longer, but she walked a couple of miles every day; when something else prevented her from walking, she complained that the lack of exercise made her bones ache more. The pain is real, but those two are just two of the many people I know who could make their pain lower - but who make it worse instead, by their own actions. I have compassion for diabetics and allergics and for people sensitive to acetone, but not if they insist on not watching their diet or the content of their cleaners. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-sepp-multiple-chemical-sensitivities-sufferer/538829/51 "2010-05-11T16:09:07Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Yes and no. My mother doesn’t enjoy having to run to the throne, or the accompanying bellyaches, but she doesn’t dislike it enough to avoid those foods which trigger it; she even does purposefully eat them on days when the plans do not please her (thus managing to derail them and make herself the center of attention). My grandmother doesn’t like having joint pain, but it has gotten a lot worse very fast because, in order to avoid it, she barely moves all day. My other grandmother lived with joint pain for a lot longer, but she walked a couple of miles every day; when something else prevented her from walking, she complained that the lack of exercise made her bones ache more. > > The pain is real, but those two are just two of the many people I know who could make their pain lower - but who make it worse instead, by their own actions. I have compassion for diabetics and allergics and for people sensitive to acetone, but not if they insist on not watching their diet or the content of their cleaners. Sorry, I do my meds, including shooting up insulin, I do physiotherapy 1 day a week [so I can stretch the 18 sessions that Tricare allows me] and do exercises at home … and I deal with the chronic pain. I avoid stuff I am allergic to [though I admit I occasionally will eat scallops because they are soooo tasty, and suffer the hours in the bathroom afterwards ☹] and I am still getting to spend more quality time with my wheelchair than I like ☹ I would _welcome_ being some sort of stem cell DNA manipulation guinea pig if it would make the pain go away. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-sepp-multiple-chemical-sensitivities-sufferer/538829/52 "2010-05-11T18:44:51Z")
I am getting a little annoyed at you people denying the validity of this poor woman’s condition. I myself suffer from a similar syndrome. In 2007, I was diagnosed with MSD. (Molecule Sensitivity Disorder). If I am exposed to anything containing molecules, I become dizzy, nauseous, and overcome with a sense "brokeness"l. It is a real condition and I can prove that my checking account only has $8.37 in it. If that’s not brokeness, I don’t know what is. How can anybody look at that and not see that there is a genuine problem here? ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-sepp-multiple-chemical-sensitivities-sufferer/538829/53 "2010-05-11T18:59:02Z")
There’s no reason why she couldn’t have real allergies (or other physical problems) and still have an outsize sense of entitlement, or just be a plain old bitch. People don’t become saints just because they become sick or handicapped. Even serious and very real health problems don’t automatically fix every flaw in someone’s personality. Some people think it works that way, but it doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-sepp-multiple-chemical-sensitivities-sufferer/538829/54 "2010-05-11T19:50:01Z")
I myself suffer from Weinberg’s Omnipresent Object Sensitivity Hostile Environment Disorder. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linda-sepp-multiple-chemical-sensitivities-sufferer/538829.md?page=2)