The Fibromyalgia Story

by Barker, Kristin K.

• ISBN13: 9781592131617
• ISBN10: 1592131611
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-07-01
• Publisher: Temple Univ Pr

Summary

More than six million Americans - most of them women - have been diagnosed with the controversial medical disorder fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). Because of the absence of definitive physiological markers, a well-understood cause, or effective treatment, FMS is controversial. Many have questioned if FMS is a "real" illness or if women sufferers are modern-day hysterics. Amidst the controversy, millions of women live with their very real symptoms. Rather than taking sides in the heated FMS debate, Kristin Barker explains how FMS represents an awkward union between the practices of modern medicine and the complexity of women's pain. Using interviews with sufferers, Barker focuses on how the idea of FMS gives meaning and order to women beset by troubling symptoms, self-doubt, and public skepticism. This book offers a fresh look at a controversial diagnosis, avoids overly simplistic explanations, and empathizes with sufferers without losing sight of medicine's power over our lives.

Author Biography

Kristen K. Barker is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Oregon State University

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Introduction	1	(14)
1. The Diagnostic Making of Fibromyalgia Syndrome	15	(29)
2. The Woman Problem and the Feminization of Fibromyalgia Syndrome	44	(20)
3. Similar-but-Different: The Fibromyalgia Syndrome Illness Experience	64	(9)
4. The Symptomatic Self and the Life World	73	(17)
5. In Search of Meaning	90	(19)
6. Diagnostic Transformations	109	(29)
7. Self-Help and the Making of a Fibromyalgia Syndrome Illness Identity	138	(28)
8. Ties That Bind and the Problem That Had No Name	166	(23)
Conclusion	189	(12)
Appendix A. The Fibromyalgia Syndrome Biomedical Literature	201	(4)
Appendix B. The Interviews	205	(6)
Notes	211	(14)
Bibliography/Works Cited	225	(18)
Index	243