Neurasthenia Revisited: On Medically Unexplained Syndromes and the Value of Hermeneutic Medicine

The rise of medically unexplained conditions like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome in the United States looks remarkably similar to the explosion of neurasthenia diagnoses in the late nineteenth century. In this paper, I argue the historical connection between neurasthenia and today’s me...

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Autor principal:	Kevin Aho
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	University of Calgary 2018
Materias:	neurasthenia fibromyalgia chronic fatigue syndrome somatization naturalism hermeneutics Philosophy (General) B1-5802
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/43857d1c9fdf4ef09d142a771f2662ad
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:43857d1c9fdf4ef09d142a771f2662ad2021-11-25T21:24:02ZNeurasthenia Revisited: On Medically Unexplained Syndromes and the Value of Hermeneutic Medicine10.11575/jah.v0i0.533341927-4416https://doaj.org/article/43857d1c9fdf4ef09d142a771f2662ad2018-04-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/jah/article/view/53334https://doaj.org/toc/1927-4416 The rise of medically unexplained conditions like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome in the United States looks remarkably similar to the explosion of neurasthenia diagnoses in the late nineteenth century. In this paper, I argue the historical connection between neurasthenia and today’s medically unexplained conditions hinges largely on the uncritical acceptance of naturalism in medicine. I show how this cultural acceptance shapes the way in which we interpret and make sense of nervous distress while, at the same time, neglecting the unique social and historical forces that continue to produce it. I draw on the methods of hermeneutic philosophy to expose the limits of naturalism and forward an account of health and illness that acknowledges the extent to which we are always embedded in contexts of meaning that determine how we experience and understand our suffering. Kevin AhoUniversity of Calgaryarticleneurastheniafibromyalgiachronic fatigue syndromesomatizationnaturalismhermeneuticsPhilosophy (General)B1-5802ENJournal of Applied Hermeneutics (2018)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	neurasthenia fibromyalgia chronic fatigue syndrome somatization naturalism hermeneutics Philosophy (General) B1-5802
spellingShingle	neurasthenia fibromyalgia chronic fatigue syndrome somatization naturalism hermeneutics Philosophy (General) B1-5802 Kevin Aho Neurasthenia Revisited: On Medically Unexplained Syndromes and the Value of Hermeneutic Medicine
description	The rise of medically unexplained conditions like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome in the United States looks remarkably similar to the explosion of neurasthenia diagnoses in the late nineteenth century. In this paper, I argue the historical connection between neurasthenia and today’s medically unexplained conditions hinges largely on the uncritical acceptance of naturalism in medicine. I show how this cultural acceptance shapes the way in which we interpret and make sense of nervous distress while, at the same time, neglecting the unique social and historical forces that continue to produce it. I draw on the methods of hermeneutic philosophy to expose the limits of naturalism and forward an account of health and illness that acknowledges the extent to which we are always embedded in contexts of meaning that determine how we experience and understand our suffering.
format	article
author	Kevin Aho
author_facet	Kevin Aho
author_sort	Kevin Aho
title	Neurasthenia Revisited: On Medically Unexplained Syndromes and the Value of Hermeneutic Medicine
title_short	Neurasthenia Revisited: On Medically Unexplained Syndromes and the Value of Hermeneutic Medicine
title_full	Neurasthenia Revisited: On Medically Unexplained Syndromes and the Value of Hermeneutic Medicine
title_fullStr	Neurasthenia Revisited: On Medically Unexplained Syndromes and the Value of Hermeneutic Medicine
title_full_unstemmed	Neurasthenia Revisited: On Medically Unexplained Syndromes and the Value of Hermeneutic Medicine
title_sort	neurasthenia revisited: on medically unexplained syndromes and the value of hermeneutic medicine
publisher	University of Calgary
publishDate	2018
url	https://doaj.org/article/43857d1c9fdf4ef09d142a771f2662ad
work_keys_str_mv	AT kevinaho neurastheniarevisitedonmedicallyunexplainedsyndromesandthevalueofhermeneuticmedicine
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Neurasthenia Revisited: On Medically Unexplained Syndromes and the Value of Hermeneutic Medicine

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