Towards an ecosystemic understanding of Endometriosis

Marta Anna Ferreira
1994 · W572285162
dissertation OA: green CC0
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This dissertation explores the unique lived experiences and coping mechanisms of women with endometriosis and describes the interactional patterns affected by the disease using an ecosystemic epistemology.

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Abstract

Endometriosis or the "career woman's disease" is a puzzling disease \naffecting women in their reproductive years. Research on endometriosis has \nfocussed on aspects such as the personality characteristics of sufferers and its \ncorrelation with infertility (Venter, 1980). As yet, the experiential world of \nendometriosis sufferers and the relationships which are influenced by their \ndisease have received little attention (Weinstein, 1987). \nFurthermore, endometriosis is construed as a physical disorder which is \nmedically diagnosed and medically treated. As such, the epistemology \nsurrounding the term "endometriosis" is an adherent to a largely non-contextual, \nnon-systemic and intrinsically mechanistic biomedical model (Bogdan, 1984; \nSchwartz, 1982). \nBy using an ecosystemic epistemology, this dissertation will attempt to \ndescribe the unique experiential world of the afflicted woman in terms of her \ncoping strategies in dealing with endometriosis and to formulate a description of \nthe interactional patterns between herself and significant others directly \ninfluenced by her disease.

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Condition tags

endometriosisinfertility

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