| My Imaginary Illness Contributor(s): Atkins, Chloe (Author), O'Toole, Bonnie Blair (Foreword by), Hodges, Brian D. (Afterword by) |
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ISBN: 0801448875 ISBN-13: 9780801448874 Publisher: ILR Press OUR PRICE: $31.30 Product Type: Hardcover Published: November 2010 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Medical | Diagnosis - Health & Fitness | Diseases - Nervous System (incl. Brain) - Biography & Autobiography | Personal Memoirs |
| Dewey: 616.744 |
| LCCN: 2010013374 |
| Series: Culture and Politics of Health Care Work/How Patients Think |
| Physical Information: 0.9" H x 6.1" W x 9.62" (1.07 lbs) 248 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: How Patients Think At age twenty-one, Chloë Atkins began suffering from a mysterious illness, the symptoms of which rapidly worsened. Paralyzed for months at a time, she frequently required intubation and life support. She eventually became quadriplegic, dependent both on a wheelchair and on health professionals who refused to believe there was anything physically wrong with her. When test after test returned inconclusive results, Atkins's doctors pronounced her symptoms psychosomatic. Atkins was told not only that she was going to die but also that this was her own fault; they concluded she was so emotionally deranged that she was willing her own death. My Imaginary Illness is the compelling story of Atkins's decades-long battle with a disease deemed imaginary, her frustration with a succession of doctors and diagnoses, her immersion in the world of psychotherapy, and her excruciating physical and emotional journey back to wellness. As both a political theorist and patient, Atkins provides a narrative critique of contemporary medicine and its problematic handling of uncertainty and of symptoms that are not easily diagnosed or known. She convincingly illustrates that medicine's belief in evidence-based practice does not mean that individual doctors are capable of objectivity, nor that the presence of biomedical ethics invokes ethical practices in hospitals and clinics. A foreword by Bonnie Blair O'Connor, who teaches medical students how to listen to patients, and a clinical commentary by Dr. Brian David Hodges, a professor of psychiatry, enrich the book's narrative with practical guidance for medical practitioners and patients alike. |
Contributor Bio(s): Hodges, Brian D.: - Brian D. Hodges is Vice-President Education at the University Health Network, Professor of Psychiatry, Scientist at the Wilson Centre for Research in Education, and Richard and Elizabeth Currie Chair in Health Professions Education Research at the University of Toronto. He is the author of The Objective Structured Clinical Examination.Atkins, Chloe: - Chloë G. K. Atkins is Associate Professor at the University of Calgary. Bonnie Blair O'Connor is Assistant Director of Pediatric Residency at Hasbro Children's Hospital/Brown Medical School. Brian David Hodges, MD, is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and Director of the Wilson Centre for Research in Education.O'Toole, Bonnie Blair: - Suzanne Gordon is Visiting Professor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing and was program leader of the Robert Wood Johnson-funded Nurse Manager in Action Program. She is the author of Life Support and Nursing against the Odds, coauthor of Safety in Numbers and From Silence to Voice, editor of When Chicken Soup Isn't Enough, and coeditor of First, Do Less Harm and The Complexities of Care, all from Cornell. Patrick Mendenhall is a Principal in Crew Resource Management LLC who is a pilot for a major commercial airline and belongs to the Air Line Pilots Association. Bonnie Blair O'Connor is Professor of Pediatrics (Clinical) and Associate Director, Pediatric Residency, at Hasbro Children's Hospital/Alpert Medical School at Brown University. |