Article
The patient experience of medically unexplained symptoms: an existentialist analysis
Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics
(2022)
Abstract
This article explores the patient experience of medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) from an existentialist standpoint. Drawing on the work of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, I explore their concepts of existential situation, existential project, authenticity, and praxis. I then analyze the situation of MUS patients in the current cultural and institutional context, elucidating that a lack of explanation for their symptoms puts MUS patients in an existential bind. I illustrate the effects of the experience of MUS on patients’ existential projects. Last, I develop an ethical response in the existentialist tradition from the perspective of patients, providers, and society at large. I argue that there is a collective responsibility to foster conditions more conducive to authentic patient well-being and to improve the experience of patients with medically unexplained symptoms.
Disciplines
Publication Date
2022
DOI
10.1007/s11017-022-09587-y
Citation Information
Kimberly Engels. "The patient experience of medically unexplained symptoms: an existentialist analysis" Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics Vol. 43 (2022) p. 355 - 373 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/kimberly-engels/3/