Abstract
In the last decade, growing areas of expression on the Internet that deal with health raise the question of the perception of medicine and health by individuals. Based on a qualitative sociological survey conducted since 2006 on forums devoted to self-injury behaviours and its members, we show the impact of these forums on ways of thinking about this problem and its medical treatment. Possibilities of discussions between individuals who suffer from the same mental disorder which is taboo in other scenes of social life create for each member an extended network of acquaintances and, therefore, occasions to discuss relationships among patients and psychiatrists, medicines, viability of diagnoses and therapies. How does this change the choice modalities of psychiatrists by these potential patients and affect their trust in treatments? Through a precise focus on forums where self-injury behaviour is discussed, we bring to light the concrete logics of the construction of these points of view on self-injury and psychiatry, through relationships between forum members, which will lead us to discuss the potential impact of these forums.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | The Meaning Management Challenge: Making Sense of Health, Illness and Disease |
Editors | Zhenyi Li and Thomas Lawrence Long |
Place of Publication | Oxford, United Kingdom |
Publisher | Inter-Disciplinary Press |
Pages | 69 - 82 |
Volume | 1 |
Edition | 1 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781848880238 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2010 |