Healers and Patients Talk : Narratives of a Chronic Gynecological Disease

Healers and Patients Talk provides insight into interactions between patients and health professionals in the clinical setting. Véronique Griffith examines the varied and contested enactments of endometriosis, the multiple ways in which people understand and use the term endometriosis, and the complex pathway to the diagnosis.

“Endometriosis” is not a common word. Some people associate it with difficult patients, pain during sex, and infertility. Others link it to stigma, grief, and not being believed by their doctors. Healers and Patients Talk provides insight into interactions between patients and health professionals in the clinical setting. The author examines the varied and contested enactments of endometriosis, the multiple ways in which people understand and use the term ‘endometriosis’, and the complex pathway to the diagnosis. Endometriosis is a label historically bestowed on white, heterosexual, cisgendered career women, but the author offers ideas about how such exclusionary practices developed over time.This is an important ethnography of endometriosis which discusses new concepts, such as the author’s theoretical contribution of the ‘a-diagnostic’ category. Women living with endometriosis occupy this space and slip in and out of it, struggling to receive a diagnosis and treatment. This conceptual category may well apply to other chronic conditions that affect women. The author makes a significant contribution to scholarly understandings of endometriosis. The book considers recommendations for improving the care of endometriosis patients, shortening the time to diagnosis, and improving interactions between patients and care-givers.