A phenomenological study of fibromyalgia. Patient perspectives

Abstract

Objective - To describe the way in which the fibromyalgia patients understand the meaning of their illness. Design - Qualitative, empirical phenomenological psychological method. Setting - A collaborative transdisciplinary interview study of patients' described experiences of living with fibromyalgia. No therapeutic relationships existed between patients and researchers. Subjects - Eighteen patients with fibromyalgia were interviewed. Ten of the 18 taped interviews were transcribed and analysed. Main outcome measures - Patients' narratives, described experiences of living with fibromyalgia. Results - The patients were intensively involved in efforts to get their self-images as ill persons confirmed. Their experience was that the disease started dramatically, with a variety of capriciously appearing symptoms of unknown cause that gave rise to the suffering. The fibromyalgia patients seemed to develop strategies to cope with a precarious self-image and find ways to manage the thought of what the future would bring. Conclusion - The meaning structures revealed in the patients' ways of describing their experiences of living with fibromyalgia seemed to be partially constituted by their efforts to stand forth as afflicted with a disease, which could be a way to help them to manage the demands that they placed upon themselves.