The Embodied Liminality of Fibromyalgia: Chronic Illness Norms and Conceptions

This study explores the associated life experiences of being diagnosed with fibromyalgia affect how individuals conceptualize life narratives and their relations to their cultural backgrounds, thereby transforming their sense of self. Fibromyalgia is characterized by symptoms such as fatigue and widespread musculoskeletal pain ("Fibromyalgia | Arthritis | CDC" n.d.). The symptoms experienced are inconsistent across patients but other listed common symptoms may include sleep disorders, brain fog, IBS and mental health concerns, etc. ("Fibromyalgia | Arthritis | CDC" n.d.). Diagnosing a disease such as fibromyalgia is a difficult task for both doctors and patients. The difficulty arises out of the fact that the patient experiences intense symptoms but there are often no clinical signs to determine as evidence of illness. As a result, no diagnosis is ever concluded or an eventual diagnosis is made through exclusionary factors rather than through the evidence of clinical signs. All the while the patient is likely experiencing prolonged unexplainable and unending symptoms, that has no clear origin or end. Through interviewing fibromyalgia patients, this study explores the associated dissolution of one's conception of self throughout the illness experience as a result of transformed social and embodied norms. This research process was examined and analyzed through George Canguilhem's work on normativity, semiotics, and the anthropological understanding of liminality and embodiment.