ASSIGNMENT : Health illness and Society

Case Study

Emily-Rose had just turned 36 and was in her first semester at university when her world began to crumble. This could not have come at a worse time as she has always looked forward to doing a Health Studies degree. Her friends and family were alarmed at the sudden moodiness, insomnia, fatigue, headaches, confusion, joint and muscle pain, nausea …and above all, the enduring feeling of tiredness she complained of.  

Emily-Rose has suddenly changed from a happy woman to someone who battled daily episodes of what she calls extreme tiredness and anxiety. In the first three weeks of starting university, her husband Harry and sons, Brian and Bob have put this down to overwork at university and firmly told her to “slacken up a bit”.  Although she tried a new relaxation regime suggested by her friend Anita, she still complained of daily episodes of overwhelming tiredness and general malaise.  Her weekly part-time care work had all but thinned out due to this overwhelming tiredness; this is in spite of following Anita’s suggested relaxation technique.  She began to miss classes regularly but confided in Brian and Bob, she will only go to the doctors if things persist into the next three weeks.

Emily-Rose is of mixed English-African parentage. Her paternal grandmother Iyabo is African. On Emily-Rose’s last visit home, her African grandma confidently confirmed the condition as Kuru, a condition which she says occurred in those days when a woman is about to start early menopause. She prescribed ginger, a cocktail of horny goat weed and other herbs which she says will restore Emily-Rose’s health. Grandma told her “although you live in a sophisticated society now, we have a different and better way of dealing with these things in my younger days”. Emily-Rose eventually went to the doctors in the fourth week as her symptoms persisted. Doctor Bilal suspected depression and put her on anti-depressants.

Six months went by and Emily-Rose’s condition did not improve. She failed a number of core modules at university. What started as a good dream had turned sour; university was no longer enjoyable. She switched jobs constantly because she got fired a number of times for missing too many days and not having a proper reason; she was at the end of her tether. She was so miserable and confused that Doctor Bilal’s medication was not working for her. Argument began at home with Harry and sons Brian and Bob who at first were sympathetic but could not understand her illness as they saw no physical sign of “this illness”.

On Harry’s recommendation, she got herself referred to see a specialist at the local hospital. She was very quickly diagnosed as having Myalgic Encephalopathy (ME)/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). Emily-Rose had a change of medication and now feels more positive. She feels better now and as she has an explanation for her condition.

QUESTIONS

1. Discuss with reference to the case study and literature on stigma the implications of stigma on the health and wellbeing of those who are stigmatised?

SAMPLE SOLUTION

Health, Illness and Society
People living with some form of chronic disorders or mental illnesses face stigma and discrimination which significantly affects their ability to live a satisfying life. Stigma can be described as the negative stereotyping while discrimination refers to unfair treatment of a person because of their identity including disorders, sex, color, and race among other factors (Earnshaw, and Quinn, 2012, p. 158). This paper will look to examine a case study of an individual with chronic fatigue syndrome and use it to understand the various forms of stigma and their effects on the health of lives of the…