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dc.contributor.authorRobson, Catherine
dc.contributor.authorLian, Olaug S
dc.date.accessioned2016-02-24T13:52:09Z
dc.date.available2016-02-24T13:52:09Z
dc.date.issued2016-01
dc.description.abstractBodily phenomena that are difficult to identify, localize, explain and cure with the aid of modern biomedical knowledge and technology leave ample room for cultural influence. That makes them a perfect case for studying the cultural dimension of medical knowledge and practice. Building on this assumption we qualitatively explore the communication between neurologists and women with seizure disorders of uncertain etiology, often labeled psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES), in a specialist clinic in England. Based on an interpretation of film-recordings of eight naturally-occurring clinical consultations we discuss the following questions: How do neurologists explain the name, the cause and the treatment options to these patients? How do patients and their companions respond to these explanations? And finally, what makes these interactions so difficult? Our interpretation of the data is inspired by critical discourse analysis, and framed within a social constructionist perspective on medical knowledge and practice. We found that the neurologists presented the diagnosis and its cause—inappropriate stress management—through objective language that conveyed a high degree of certainty. Patient-parties often disagreed, and found it hard to believe that these physical symptoms had a psychological origin. Companions often acted as advocates for the patients in negotiations with the doctors. The polarized debate between psychogenic and somatic understandings of the seizures that emerged illuminates how the Cartesian dualism between body and mind complicates clinical encounters—a dualism doctors explicitly reject, but presumably accept. We argue that it is impossible to overcome this polarization without acknowledging the cultural dimension of medical knowledge and practice.en_US
dc.identifier.citationForum qualitative Sozialforschung 2015, 17(1)en_US
dc.identifier.cristinIDFRIDAID 1261283
dc.identifier.issn1438-5627
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10037/8552
dc.identifier.urnURN:NBN:no-uit_munin_8118
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherInstitut für Qualitative Forschungen_US
dc.relation.projectIDNorges forskningsråd: 212978en_US
dc.relation.urihttp://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/2418en_US
dc.rights.accessRightsopenAccess
dc.subjectmedical sociologyen_US
dc.subjectsocial construction of illness and diseaseen_US
dc.subjecthealth communicationen_US
dc.subjectneurologyen_US
dc.subjectpatientprovider relationshipsen_US
dc.subjectfilm recordingsen_US
dc.subjectobservational studyen_US
dc.subjectdiscourse analysisen_US
dc.subjectcritical discourse analysisen_US
dc.title"Are You Saying She's Mentally Ill Then?" Explaining Medically Unexplained Seizures in Clinical Encountersen_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.typeTidsskriftartikkelen_US
dc.typePeer revieweden_US


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