(Un)natural Suffering: A cultural analysis of experiences of individuals receiving medical interventions for Premenstrual Syndrom

Sammanfattning

This thesis explores experiences of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and receiving medical treatment for it. Adopting a material-discursive intrapsychic model of thought, the participants' depictions are analyzed through objects, discourses, emotions and internal value systems in order to give various perspectives on PMS as well as contextualize the complex relationship between individual, group, and objects. This study was mainly conducted by five ethnographic interviews, where the participants drew “what PMS is like” for them. In the thesis it is argued that PMS is mostly categorized as an external ailment infringing on the body. This categorization of PMS contributes to making it into a “sad object” and therefore an object which the participants attempt to distance themselves from, mainly by the means of medication. Through concepts such as the good life, deference and demeanor, purity and danger, naturality and “true selves”, PMS is constructed as that which hinders them from reaching the imagined good life. It is further argued that medication becomes an “ambiguous object” due to its value switching tendencies from being “good” and “bad” in the PMSers’ lives. The results point to a need for reimagining PMS from being a sad object, to give space for alternative modes of feeling and being in societal norms and rules of conduct. The PMSer can rarely “escape” neither PMS nor medication. As such, it is suggested that these objects may rather be reconfigured to allow PMSers a higher quality of life. Self-compassion, norm-criticism and acceptance, created an environment which allowed PMSers more respite and less stress. These findings are of importance for healthcare professionals, SRHR-organizations, companies targeting menstruating individuals and more.