Framing the onset of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): Women's experiences of changes in the body

Olivia Knapton*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

Despite quantitative research showing differences between obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) across genders, little research has qualitatively explored women's experiences of the disorder. This chapter combines image schemas with illness narrative analysis to explore how women with OCD link the onset of the disorder to traumatic changes in their bodies that are experienced as a crisis. It is argued that the bodily changes disrupt the image schemas that provide stable conceptualisations of the body. The disintegration of the stable body leads to conceptualisations of OCD that, to various degrees, frame OCD as an attempt to regain control over the changed body. Thus, the women make sense of OCD onset by connecting it to personal crises and relationships within specific sociocultural contexts.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Language of Crisis. Metaphors, frames and discourses
EditorsMimi Huang, Lise-Lotte Holmgreen
PublisherJohn Benjamins Publishing Company
Pages281-304
Number of pages24
ISBN (Electronic)9789027204967
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2020

Publication series

NameDiscourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture
Volume87
ISSN (Print)1569-9463

Keywords

  • Discourse
  • Embodiment
  • Illness narratives
  • Image schemas
  • Obsessive-compulsive disorder
  • OCD
  • Onset
  • Qualitative
  • Traumatic events
  • Women

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