My imaginary illness : a journey into uncertainty and prejudice in medical diagnosis / Chloe G.K. Atkins ; with a clinical commentary by Brian David Hodges ; foreword by Bonnie Blair O'Connor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Atkins, Chloë G. K. (Chloë Gwyneth Katharine), 1965-

Contributor:

Hodges, Brian David, 1964-

Series:

Culture and politics of health care work. How patients think.

The culture and politics of health care work. How patients think

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Myasthenia gravis--Diagnosis.

Myasthenia gravis.

Somatic symptom disorder--Diagnosis.

Somatic symptom disorder.

Diagnosis--Social aspects.

Diagnosis.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (246 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca : ILR Press/Cornell University Press, 2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

How Patients Think At age twenty-one, Chloë Atkins began suffering from a mysterious illness, the symptoms of which rapidly worsened. Paralyzed for months at a time, she frequently required intubation and life support. She eventually became quadriplegic, dependent both on a wheelchair and on health professionals who refused to believe there was anything physically wrong with her. When test after test returned inconclusive results, Atkins's doctors pronounced her symptoms psychosomatic. Atkins was told not only that she was going to die but also that this was her own fault; they concluded she was so emotionally deranged that she was willing her own death. My Imaginary Illness is the compelling story of Atkins's decades-long battle with a disease deemed imaginary, her frustration with a succession of doctors and diagnoses, her immersion in the world of psychotherapy, and her excruciating physical and emotional journey back to wellness. As both a political theorist and patient, Atkins provides a narrative critique of contemporary medicine and its problematic handling of uncertainty and of symptoms that are not easily diagnosed or known. She convincingly illustrates that medicine's belief in evidence-based practice does not mean that individual doctors are capable of objectivity, nor that the presence of biomedical ethics invokes ethical practices in hospitals and clinics. A foreword by Bonnie Blair O'Connor, who teaches medical students how to listen to patients, and a clinical commentary by Dr. Brian David Hodges, a professor of psychiatry, enrich the book's narrative with practical guidance for medical practitioners and patients alike.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Editor's Note

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Beginnings

2. The Original Crisis

3. Facing Uncertainty

4. Ontological Apprehensions

5. Diagnosis: Conversion Reaction

6. Credo

7. More Paralysis and More Psychological Remedies

8. A Pyrrhic Victory

9. Becoming a Pariah

10. Fire! Fire!

11. Love in the Midst of Ruin

12. Grasping at a Diagnosis, Hoping for a Cure

13. The Crisis Deepens

14. Contemplating Hemlock

15. Icarus

16. A Crisis, American Style

17. Gravy

Clinical Commentary

Bibliography

About the Authors

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780801459658

0801459656

9780801459948

080145994X

OCLC:

726824298