Digesting Stigma: Exploring the Illness Experience of New Zealanders with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (‘It’s just shitty’)

New Zealand ◽

Lived Experience ◽

Lived Experiences ◽

Ethnographic Study ◽

The Body ◽

Gastrointestinal Illness ◽

Illness Experience ◽

Social Expectations ◽

This thesis is an anthropological exploration of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), and the first ethnographic study of people with IBS in New Zealand. It explores the illness experience of people with IBS and whether stigma plays a role within this experience. IBS is a gastrointestinal illness that affects 10-20% of New Zealand’s population. However, its aetiology is unknown, there is no cure, and the biomedical approach that informs its diagnosis and treatment is often incongruous with its lived experience. I posit that the illness experience of my participants and what is stigmatising for them must be understood not only in relation to its physical manifestations but also in relation to the biomedical and neoliberal influences that inform social expectations of the body and social participation. Further, participants experience their IBS simultaneously resisting and participating within these influences to make sense of and manage their illness in a way that aligns with their lived experiences. All work within this thesis is my own except where otherwise stated.

How sociophenomenology of the body problematises the ‘problem-oriented approach’ to growth hormone treatment

Medical Humanities ◽

10.1136/medhum-2018-011548 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 46 (1) ◽

pp. 2-11

Author(s):

Maria Cristina Murano ◽

Jenny Slatman ◽

Kristin Zeiler

Keyword(s):

Growth Hormone ◽

Short Stature ◽

Lived Experience ◽

Lived Experiences ◽

Growth Hormone Treatment ◽

Hormone Treatment ◽

The Body ◽

Psychological Assessments ◽

Objective Space ◽

Oriented Approach

This article examines how people who are shorter than average make sense of their lived experience of embodiment. It offers a sociophenomenological analysis of 10 semistructured interviews conducted in the Netherlands, focusing on if, how, and why height matters to them. It draws theoretically on phenomenological discussions of lived and objective space, intercorporeality and norms about bodies. The analysis shows that height as a lived phenomenon (1) is active engagement in space, (2) coshapes habituated ways of behaving and (3) is shaped by gendered norms and beliefs about height. Based on this analysis, the article challenges what we label as the ‘problem-oriented approach’ to discussions about growth hormone treatment for children with idiopathic short stature. In this approach, possible psychosocial disadvantages or problems of short stature and quantifiable height become central to the ethical evaluation of growth hormone treatment at the expense of first-hand lived experiences of short stature and height as a lived phenomenon. Based on our sociophenomenological analysis, this paper argues that the rationale for giving growth hormone treatment should combine medical and psychological assessments with investigations of lived experiences of the child. Such an approach would allow considerations not only of possible risks or disadvantages of short stature but also of the actual ways in which the child makes sense of her or his height.

Serotonin Level and Lipid Metabolism Indices in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Constipation Against the Background of Various Degrees of Obesity

Galician Medical Journal ◽

10.21802/gmj.2018.2.1 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 25 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Vasyl Mishchuk ◽

Galina Grygoruk

Keyword(s):

Body Mass Index ◽

Lipid Profile ◽

Body Mass ◽

Density Lipoprotein ◽

Functional Constipation ◽

The Body ◽

Normal Body Mass Index ◽

Serotonin Level ◽

Recent research shows that the number of diseases associated with obesity has been increasing. In obese persons, association with functional constipation is noted in 24.0% of cases, and obesity is recorded in 60.0% of patients with functional constipation. Among the possible mechanisms for the development of such a combination are changes in serotonin level in the blood, although the existing data are ambiguous and sometimes controversial.The objective of the study is to investigate the changes in serotonin level in the blood of obese patients in combination with constipation and its relationship with the lipid profile of the blood.Materials and methods. 63 patients with obesity in combination with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBSc), 24 patients with normal body mass index and 10 practically healthy people were examined. 25 patients with obesity and constipation had a body mass index of 32.8±0.24kg/m2, 28 patients – 37.8±kg/m2, and 10 patients – 42.6±0.5kg/m2. In patients with irritable bowel syndrome without obesity, the body mass index was 21.7±0.4kg/m2. The blood serotonin level and lipid profile of the blood was determined in all patients.Results. It was deermined that in case of irritable bowel syndrome with constipation, serotonin level in the blood was reduced. In obesity with IBSc, the concentration of serotonin, on the contrary, was elevated. All patients with IBSc and obesity were marked an elevated level of total cholesterol and triglycerides. A direct correlation between high levels of triglycerides and serotonin concentration in serum of such comorbid patients was detected. The increase in the degree of obesity in the presence of IBSc was accompanied by a decrease in the concentration of cholesterol of high density lipoprotein. Patients with IBSc without excessive body weight had no such deviations.Conclusions. With an increase in the degree of obesity, serotonin level in the blood increases and the lipid blood spectrum worsens.

Lived experiences of irritable bowel syndrome and role of culturally adapted. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT): A mixed methods study

Journal of Psychosomatic Research ◽

10.1016/j.jpsychores.2019.03.039 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 121 ◽

pp. 111

Author(s):

Nusrat Husain

Keyword(s):

Mixed Methods ◽

Behavior Therapy ◽

Cognitive Behavior Therapy ◽

Lived Experiences ◽

Mixed Methods Study ◽

Cognitive Behavior ◽

Culturally Adapted ◽

Lived experiences of irritable bowel syndrome and role of culturally adapted Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT): A mixed methods study

Journal of Psychosomatic Research ◽

10.1016/j.jpsychores.2019.03.135 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 121 ◽

pp. 144-145

Author(s):

Nusrat Husain ◽

Nasim Chaudhry ◽

Tayyeba Kiran ◽

Omair Husain ◽

Saad Niaz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mixed Methods ◽

Behavior Therapy ◽

Cognitive Behavior Therapy ◽

Lived Experiences ◽

Mixed Methods Study ◽

Cognitive Behavior ◽

Culturally Adapted ◽

Imprisonment: Young Pacific womens' experiences of living with depression

10.26686/wgtn.17013638.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Aotearoa Muaiava

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Lived Experience ◽

Parent Education ◽

Lived Experiences ◽

Phenomenological Study ◽

Future Research ◽

Pacific Island ◽

Music Reading ◽

And Gender ◽

Cultural Pressures

Research has shown that depression is prevalent in adolescence. This descriptive phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of young Pacific Island (PI) women (17-25 years of age) living in New Zealand. Phenomenological interviewing was used to capture the lived experiences of depression with the aim of developing a deeper understanding of what it is like to be a young depressed PI woman. The essence of being depressed was imprisonment. Young PI women described how family and cultural pressures, experiences of failure and abuse led to their depression. They experienced rejection, being labelled, misunderstood and silenced by others and their circumstances and depression trapped them. The women managed their depression by finding their voice in writing journals, listening to music, reading bible scriptures, prayer and connecting to others with similar lived experience. The implications of the study are discussed in relation to improving parent education and culturally relevant support for young PI women. Recommendations for future research include developing approaches to research that include a more specific cultural and gender focus.

Imprisonment: Young Pacific womens' experiences of living with depression

10.26686/wgtn.17013638 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Aotearoa Muaiava

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Lived Experience ◽

Parent Education ◽

Lived Experiences ◽

Phenomenological Study ◽

Future Research ◽

Pacific Island ◽

Music Reading ◽

And Gender ◽

Cultural Pressures

Research has shown that depression is prevalent in adolescence. This descriptive phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of young Pacific Island (PI) women (17-25 years of age) living in New Zealand. Phenomenological interviewing was used to capture the lived experiences of depression with the aim of developing a deeper understanding of what it is like to be a young depressed PI woman. The essence of being depressed was imprisonment. Young PI women described how family and cultural pressures, experiences of failure and abuse led to their depression. They experienced rejection, being labelled, misunderstood and silenced by others and their circumstances and depression trapped them. The women managed their depression by finding their voice in writing journals, listening to music, reading bible scriptures, prayer and connecting to others with similar lived experience. The implications of the study are discussed in relation to improving parent education and culturally relevant support for young PI women. Recommendations for future research include developing approaches to research that include a more specific cultural and gender focus.

1104 – Integrated Multi-Omics Analysis of the Faecal Microbiome and Plasma Lipidome from a New Zealand Irritable Bowel Syndrome Case/Control Study

Gastroenterology ◽

10.1016/s0016-5085(19)37389-5 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 156 (6) ◽

pp. S-235-S-236

Author(s):

Wayne Young ◽

Karl Fraser ◽

Paul Maclean ◽

Caterina Carco ◽

Jane A. Mullaney ◽

...

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Case Control Study ◽

Case Control ◽

Omics Analysis ◽

Irritable Bowel ◽

Faecal Microbiome ◽

Control Study

COGNITION AND THE BODY: SOMATIC ATTRIBUTIONS IN IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME

Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy ◽

10.1017/s1352465803001036 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 31 (1) ◽

pp. 13-31 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Maryanne Martin ◽

Catherine Crane

Keyword(s):

Attributional Style ◽

Gastrointestinal Symptoms ◽

The Body ◽

Anxiety And Depression ◽

Treatment Seeking ◽

Considerable Proportion ◽

Physiological Symptoms ◽

Irritable Bowel ◽

Treatment Seekers

How do somatic causal attributions for symptoms relate to treatment seeking behaviour in Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)? How might a tendency to make somatic attributions influence an individual's cognitive representation of their illness once a diagnosis of IBS is established? In Study 1 attributions about symptoms were investigated in treatment-seekers and non treatment-seekers with IBS. Treatment-seekers had an increased tendency to make somatic attributions for both gastrointestinal symptoms and physiological symptoms characteristic of anxiety and depression, although they did not differ from non treatment-seekers in the severity of these symptoms or in their reports of psychological distress. Treatment-seekers also perceived themselves to be significantly less resistant to illness and to be significantly more likely to have poor health in the future than non treatment-seekers. In Study 2, 20 treatment seekers with chronic symptoms of IBS completed measures of mood and of the degree to which they viewed a range of symptoms as a part of their IBS. Physiological symptoms of anxiety and depression were seen as a part of IBS by a considerable proportion of the sample. Higher levels of depression were associated with an increased tendency to see physiological symptoms of anxiety and depression and even symptoms of colds as “a part of” IBS. It is concluded that a somatic attributional style may contribute both to initial treatment seeking for symptoms of IBS and the subsequent maintenance and exacerbation of the disorder once a diagnosis is established.