A qualitative exploration of how young people experience and make sense of medically unexplained symptoms
Year: 2015
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Medically Unexplained Symptoms (MUS), symptoms which do not have a full \nmedical explanation, defy expectations of the illness experience and provide \nsignificant challenges to medical services. Clinical guidelines recommend the coconstruction of a shared understanding of difficulties. However, this is difficult \nwhen symptoms do not have an explanation, and experiences and perspectives of \ndoctors and patients are mismatched. \n \nA qualitative approach was utilised to explore how young people \nexperience and make sense of MUS. Semi-structured interviews were conducted \nwith nine young people who were experiencing symptoms they had been told did \nnot have a full medical explanation. \n \nInductive thematic analysis identified young people with MUS have \ndifficulty making sense of MUS, found it hard living with MUS and were trying \nto find a way to manage their symptoms and move forward with their lives. \nParticipants struggled to fit within the medical system. Without a language and \nway to make sense of their experiences, they struggled to integrate this into their \ndeveloping identity. Participants assumed a personal responsibility for their \nrecovery but struggled with this in the context of feeling excluded and \ndisempowered. \n \nImplications for clinical practice are considered, recommending \ndiscussion of shared uncertainty and ways of managing uncertainty may be \nhelpful for families and professionals. Suggestions are made for future research \nto extend the current findings and a critical appraisal of the research is provided. \n
Author: Claudia Willis
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2310329729