PMID: 22338290Feb 18, 2012Paper

Personhood diagnostics: personal attributes and clinical explanations of pain

Medical Anthropology Quarterly
Mara Buchbinder

Abstract

This article examines an explanation circulating within a U.S. multidisciplinary pediatric pain clinic that links the neurobiology of functional pain disorders to desirable personal attributes such as smartness and creativity. Drawing on ethnographic observations and the analysis of video-recorded clinical interactions and focusing on two cases, I introduce the term personhood diagnostics to explore how the explanatory framework worked not only to pinpoint a pathophysiological mechanism for pain to legitimize it as "real" but also to cast patients as virtuous persons. In doing so, it laid the groundwork for an ethic of clinical care that privileged the patient's responsibility for treatment. Within this narrative logic, diagnostic explanations reveal not only causal pathways but also predictive claims about recovery. By considering what is at stake when personal attributes are marshaled within a neurobiological diagnostic register that also lays out the patient's role in healing, this article complicates psychosomatic accounts of pain.

References

Feb 1, 1995·Medical Anthropology·D E Gray
Jun 1, 1994·Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry·L J Kirmayer
May 17, 2000·Medical Anthropology Quarterly·D E Moerman
Feb 28, 2001·Medical Anthropology Quarterly·J B Waldram
Apr 22, 2003·Medical Anthropology Quarterly·Tamara C Daley, Thomas S Weisner
Feb 20, 2004·The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy·David H Brendel
Nov 25, 2004·Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. Revue Canadienne De Psychiatrie·Laurence J KirmayerMelissa Dominicé Dao
Aug 23, 2008·Medical Anthropology Quarterly·Roberta D BaerAna L Salcedo Rocha
Nov 18, 2008·Family Practice·Rachel E CasidayMwenza T Blell
May 20, 2009·Medical Anthropology Quarterly·Susan Reynolds Whyte
May 1, 1947·Psychosomatic Medicine·J GROEN

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Dec 25, 2012·Medical Anthropology Quarterly·C Jason Throop
Oct 22, 2014·Medical Anthropology Quarterly·Emery R EavesSamuel F Dworkin
Feb 6, 2015·BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine·Emery R EavesDaniel C Cherkin
Oct 19, 2011·Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry·Mara Buchbinder
Nov 6, 2020·Medical Anthropology Quarterly·Jennifer J CarrollJeffrey H Samet
Feb 18, 2021·Medical Anthropology·Mette Bech Risør, Kjersti Lillevoll
Nov 24, 2021·Medical Anthropology Quarterly·Camilla Braendstrup LaursenLone Grøn

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Trending Feeds

COVID-19

Coronaviruses encompass a large family of viruses that cause the common cold as well as more serious diseases, such as the ongoing outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19; formally known as 2019-nCoV). Coronaviruses can spread from animals to humans; symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties; in more severe cases, infection can lead to death. This feed covers recent research on COVID-19.

Blastomycosis

Blastomycosis fungal infections spread through inhaling Blastomyces dermatitidis spores. Discover the latest research on blastomycosis fungal infections here.

Nuclear Pore Complex in ALS/FTD

Alterations in nucleocytoplasmic transport, controlled by the nuclear pore complex, may be involved in the pathomechanism underlying multiple neurodegenerative diseases including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Dementia. Here is the latest research on the nuclear pore complex in ALS and FTD.

Applications of Molecular Barcoding

The concept of molecular barcoding is that each original DNA or RNA molecule is attached to a unique sequence barcode. Sequence reads having different barcodes represent different original molecules, while sequence reads having the same barcode are results of PCR duplication from one original molecule. Discover the latest research on molecular barcoding here.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome is a disease characterized by unexplained disabling fatigue; the pathology of which is incompletely understood. Discover the latest research on chronic fatigue syndrome here.

Evolution of Pluripotency

Pluripotency refers to the ability of a cell to develop into three primary germ cell layers of the embryo. This feed focuses on the mechanisms that underlie the evolution of pluripotency. Here is the latest research.

Position Effect Variegation

Position Effect Variagation occurs when a gene is inactivated due to its positioning near heterochromatic regions within a chromosome. Discover the latest research on Position Effect Variagation here.

STING Receptor Agonists

Stimulator of IFN genes (STING) are a group of transmembrane proteins that are involved in the induction of type I interferon that is important in the innate immune response. The stimulation of STING has been an active area of research in the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. Here is the latest research on STING receptor agonists.

Microbicide

Microbicides are products that can be applied to vaginal or rectal mucosal surfaces with the goal of preventing, or at least significantly reducing, the transmission of sexually transmitted infections. Here is the latest research on microbicides.