Contesting stigma and contested emotions: Personal experience and public perception of specific phobias

Joyce Davidson

Social Science & Medicine, 2005, vol. 61, issue 10, 2155-2164

Abstract: This paper draws on interviews with members of the United Kingdom National Phobics Society to explore the implications of the contested nature of specific phobias for their experience and perception. In common with other chronic and contested conditions such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, phobias are stigmatised and subjected to widespread judgmental attitudes in both medical and lay populations. In contrast, however, phobic experience is rarely characterised by difficulty in describing symptoms and obtaining a diagnosis: core fearful reaction to and avoidance of particular objects is usually obvious and uncontested. The crucial difference is that phobias are constituted by emotions and behaviours considered irrational and inconsequential, and it is their (perceived absence of) significance that raises questions and eyebrows. In other words, what does it matter and who cares if you happen to be scared of snakes? Using phobics' own words as far as possible, the paper explores the processes through which phobic emotions are constructed as contested, and examines phobic means of managing experience and perception of these emotions. It reveals that many respondents are resourceful and resistant, continually renegotiating their positioning as irrational, incapable and emotionally weak.

Keywords: Stigma; Emotion; Phobia; Contested; illness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277-9536(05)00199-1
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:socmed:v:61:y:2005:i:10:p:2155-2164

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/supportfaq.cws_home/regional
http://www.elsevier. ... _01_ooc_1&version=01

Access Statistics for this article

Social Science & Medicine is currently edited by Ichiro (I.) Kawachi and S.V. (S.V.) Subramanian

More articles in Social Science & Medicine from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().