{"title":"\"So It's Like a Painful Period?\" Living with Endometriosis: My Journey.","authors":"Samantha Marie Walkden","doi":"10.1080/10410236.2023.2296189","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This essay details the author's personal process of being diagnosed with endometriosis, including her experience of medical gaslighting and societal attitudes toward \"period pain.\" Many people who experience excessive menstrual pain report dismissive attitudes and/or trivialization of their symptoms, from both the public and health professionals. The author recalls conversations from throughout her diagnostic journey, which evidence the ingrained beliefs and attitudes of gendered observations of pain. Ultimately, the author contends that the \"burden of proof\" is with the patient, being forced to continually fight for their right to be heard in an archaic medical system. The people experiencing this condition are experts-by-experience, who are continually providing knowledge about endometriosis, and self-advocating to rewrite the societal narratives concerning menstrual pain. The goal of this essay is not to blame or cause discomfort, but rather to raise awareness and encourage everyone to talk more openly about menstrual related issues. The following prose is written as a first-person account of my experience with this condition, drawing on appropriate support from academic literature.</p>","PeriodicalId":12889,"journal":{"name":"Health Communication","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Health Communication","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2023.2296189","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2023/12/18 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"COMMUNICATION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This essay details the author's personal process of being diagnosed with endometriosis, including her experience of medical gaslighting and societal attitudes toward "period pain." Many people who experience excessive menstrual pain report dismissive attitudes and/or trivialization of their symptoms, from both the public and health professionals. The author recalls conversations from throughout her diagnostic journey, which evidence the ingrained beliefs and attitudes of gendered observations of pain. Ultimately, the author contends that the "burden of proof" is with the patient, being forced to continually fight for their right to be heard in an archaic medical system. The people experiencing this condition are experts-by-experience, who are continually providing knowledge about endometriosis, and self-advocating to rewrite the societal narratives concerning menstrual pain. The goal of this essay is not to blame or cause discomfort, but rather to raise awareness and encourage everyone to talk more openly about menstrual related issues. The following prose is written as a first-person account of my experience with this condition, drawing on appropriate support from academic literature.
期刊介绍:
As an outlet for scholarly intercourse between medical and social sciences, this noteworthy journal seeks to improve practical communication between caregivers and patients and between institutions and the public. Outstanding editorial board members and contributors from both medical and social science arenas collaborate to meet the challenges inherent in this goal. Although most inclusions are data-based, the journal also publishes pedagogical, methodological, theoretical, and applied articles using both quantitative or qualitative methods.