There is life after the diagnosis : a comparative exploration of two mothers' experiences of having sons with Tourette syndrome
Year: 2012
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The current research study explored the experience of two mothers of boys who suffer\nfrom Tourette Syndrome. It looks at the impact of the diagnosis on them and their\nfamilies, touches on the question of how they are affected by social perception, what\nfeelings are evoked around the issue, and how they feel supported by their son’s schools\nand the medical system. It also briefly takes into account whether there is a place for\npsychotherapy within a supportive structure for them. Interpretative Phenomenological\nAnalysis was used to elicit the richest themes from the in-depth interviews conducted\nwith both women. While many of the same emotions were evoked on the diagnosis of\ntheir sons, both families reacted differently, one acting as a unit or system and the other\nappearing to separate into individuals coping with the impact. Both women found support\nfrom the families they met through The Tourette’s Association of Ireland and both\nbecame a support for newly diagnosed families. One mother had a very positive\nexperience with her son’s school, teachers, psychologist and the medical system in\ngeneral, the other did not. One woman has been attending psychotherapy as a support for\nherself, and the other had not ever considered it. This research suggests that treating the\ndiagnosis as ‘family diagnosis’ rather than an individual’s diagnosis may be a beneficial\napproach for all involved. It also suggests that psychotherapy could be a support for the\ncare-givers who bear the worry, responsibility and at times the sense of isolation\nassociated with Tourette Syndrome, for their children. This study is exploratory in nature,\nlooking at the lives of two mothers in a specific situation, in the hope that the findings\nwill serve as a basis of authentic knowledge from which to develop further Irish studies\ninto what might be supportive to these women and families. ‘sometimes we simply have to keep our eyes open and look carefully at individual cases – not in the hope of proving anything, but rather in the hope of learning something!’ Hans Eysenck (1976: 9) Author keywords: Tourette syndrome, parents, caregivers, support
Source: eSource (Dublin Business School)
Author: Susan Duffy
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1603009474