Nerves in Northern Norway: The Communication of Emotions, Illness Experiences, and Health-Seeking Behaviors

Foss, Nina

doi:10.1177/104973202129119838

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…In fact, it represents an example of ambiguous illnesses that force the medical field to face up to the uncertainty inherent in its own nature (Greenhalgh, 1999; Griffiths et al, 2010; Griffiths, Green, & Tsouroufli, 2005) and poses important questions for physicians and researchers. Physicians are accustomed to attributing uncertainty to mental illness, especially when the diagnosis is controversial, such as posttraumatic stress disorder or “nerves” (Foss, 2002; Shaw, 2004; Spoont et al, 2009). However, they find themselves in greater difficulty when they cannot explain or treat illnesses affecting the human body, such as some chronic illnesses with uncertain trajectories (Åsbring & Närvänen, 2004; Corbin, 2003; Corbin & Strauss, 1987; Parry, 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Psychological Perspective of Eye Floaters

Cipolletta

Galan

2012

Qual Health Res

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Patients experiencing flashes and spots in their perceptive fields often resort to consulting an ophthalmologist without finding an answer, mainly because these symptoms are not necessarily associated with pathology of the eye. The purpose of our research study was to understand the experience of these patients, differentiate among them, and propose different ways of treating them. We carried out an eye examination and echography, individual semistructured interviews, and dependency grids with 11 patients at the ophthalmology department of a public hospital in northern Italy. We found that individuals' ways of experiencing and reacting to eye floaters might be different and might depend on the perception of the disease, the personal explanation, the solutions tried, the trust placed in medicine, self-construction, and the dispersion of dependency. Understanding the experiences of patients suffering from eye floaters might help health care professionals to personalize their approaches to these patients.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Psychological Perspective of Eye Floaters

Cipolletta

Galan

2012

Qual Health Res

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“…For example, Evans-Pritchard concludes that witchcraft was the idiom through which the Azande people explained misfortunes (Evans-Pritchard, 1976 cited in Layton, 1997: 195). More recently, medical anthropologists exploring emotional lives conclude that the utterances about ‘having/experiencing nerves’ (Clarke, 1989; Foss, 2002) is a culturally and socially acceptable idiom for publicly expressing otherwise unacceptable private emotions. Another way of understanding what the idiom refers to is Bourdieu’s (1980) phrase, ‘logic of practice’.…”

Section: Idioms As An ‘Instrument’ For Hearing Childhood Articulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning to Listen: Exploring the Idioms of Childhood

Nolas

Aruldoss

Varvantakis

2018

Sociological Research Online

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How do we recognise children's participation and their relationships to public life? Drawing on evidence from ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2014-2016 for the ERC funded Connectors Study on the relationship between childhood and public life, this paper explores the ways in which children communicate their encounters with public life. Τhe contemporary phenomenon of listening without hearing is discussed as this relates to the call for listening to children and the simultaneous failure to hear what they say. Idioms are introduced as an 'instrument' for thinking through what it means and feels like to encounter and make sense of childhood and children's practices of relating to public life. The analysis focuses on three emblematic encounters with six-to eight-year-old children living in Athens, Hyderabad, London. We argue that dominant understandings of listening to children rely heavily on cognitive, conceptual and rational models of idealised and largely verbal forms of communication that ignore the affective, embodied and lived dimensions of making meaning. Through ethnographic thick description we trouble what it means to tune into children's worlds and to 'properly hear', and in so doing demonstrate the ways in which idioms support an understanding of what matters to children. Drawing on evidence from ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2014-2016 for the ERC funded Connectors Study on childhood and public life, this paper develops the concept of idioms as an 'tuning device' for understanding children's cultures and their communication therein, as meaningful and agentic. The term idiom, as used in anthropological and other social science literatures, provides an understanding of the act of communication that goes beyond linguistics and spoken language. It shifts attention towards communication as a social, cultural, temporal, as well as fully sensory act, that includes gestures, practices, actions, and affect. As such, idioms are a way of world-making and this paper focuses specifically on those idioms that were mobilised by children to make sense of and communicate their encounters with and experiences of public life. Children in the study understood public life as activities, places, and things that were accessible, communal, civil and political, known and open (e.g. a range of institutions, parks, toilets, voting, etc). A number of children also commented on the difficulty, also found in the literature, of providing a definition of public life (e.g. 'I don't know how to describe what I know aboutit'). In the social science literature and in practice, such encounters and experiences are often referred to as children's participation and much has been made in theory and in practice of 'listening to children' as a medium for participation. While the failure to listen is systemic and often political, we argue that useful sensitising devices (concepts used to think and act with), such as we have found idioms to be, can support theory and practice development that better resonates with everyday childh...

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“…28,29 People who for some reason do not participate risk being seen as non-contributors to the common good. 30 Further, people who have a positive attitude, do not complain and do not give in to hardships are valued. One should not be on sick leave without good reason, and people find it demanding to be asked about work and sick leave by co-villagerssuch a topic is to be avoided if possible.…”

Section: Bjørg: Do You Go To the Doctor If You Have A Bit Of A Pain In Your Stomach For A Couple Of Days? And Then It Goes Away And The Smentioning

confidence: 99%

The significance of cultural norms and clinical logics for the perception of possible relapse in rural Northern Norway – sensing symptoms of cancer

Skowronski

Risør

Foss³

2017

Qual Res Med Healthc

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Little is known about the process from experiencing indeterminate bodily sensations to perceiving them as possible symptoms of cancer relapse. We explore how such processes are related to local values and to clinical practice in rural Northern Norway. One-year ethnographic fieldwork was conducted in a coastal village involving ten key participants residing in the village who had undergone cancer treatment from six months to five years earlier. The village has instability in primary health care staffing, which influences how and when indeterminate bodily sensations are presented to shifting GPs. The participants feel that they have to present clear symptoms, so they hesitate to see the doctor for such bodily sensations. Moreover, the personal evaluation of bodily sensations is embedded in local values in the village. Core values are to contribute to the common good, not be a burden, be positive and avoid focusing on difficult things. Participants’ inner dialogues with co-villagers and health personnel lead to not sharing concerns about bodily sensations, even though they might be symptoms of relapse. We suggest a rethinking and relocation of Hay’s analysis of social legitimation in sense-tosymptom processes in order to grasp the experiences of cancer in rural Northern Norway.

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Nerves in Northern Norway: The Communication of Emotions, Illness Experiences, and Health-Seeking Behaviors

Cited by 8 publications

References 23 publications

A Psychological Perspective of Eye Floaters

A Psychological Perspective of Eye Floaters

Learning to Listen: Exploring the Idioms of Childhood

The significance of cultural norms and clinical logics for the perception of possible relapse in rural Northern Norway – sensing symptoms of cancer

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