ORCID Profile
0000-0002-7249-1043
Current Organisation
Deakin University
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Publisher: BMJ
Date: 11-07-2023
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 12-12-2021
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-47852-0_37
Abstract: Western culture tends to view depression more often than not as something to be avoided and eradicated. Yet there are in iduals who have been through the journey of depression, diagnosis and treatment who challenge this view. In what follows, Jane recounts her story in which depression becomes a catalyst for understanding herself and her past. The insight she gained, in turn, led to self-growth—all of which she would not have gained had she not become depressed. Jane’s story also emphasises the importance of looking to the context of one’s depression—a view which presents a challenge to the current focus on the symptomatology of depression in medical manuals such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Jane felt that understanding the context in which her depression arose, which she achieved through talking therapy, was key to her recovery. Jane shows us what we potentially lose with our current focus, and the value that may actually be gained from the journey into and out of depression.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 28-08-2015
DOI: 10.1007/S11673-014-9567-7
Abstract: Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) was recently moved to a full category in the DSM-5 (the latest edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). It also appears set for inclusion as a separate disorder in the ICD-11 (the upcoming edition of the World Health Organization's International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems). This paper argues that PMDD should not be listed in the DSM or the ICD at all, adding to the call to recognise PMDD as a socially constructed disorder. I first present the argument that PMDD pathologises understandable anger/distress and that to do so is potentially dangerous. I then present evidence that PMDD is a culture-bound phenomenon, not a universal one. I also argue that even if (1) medication produces a desired effect, (2) there are biological correlates with premenstrual anger/distress, (3) such anger/distress seems to occur monthly, and (4) women are more likely than men to be diagnosed with affective disorders, none of these factors substantiates that premenstrual anger/distress is caused by a mental disorder. I argue that to assume they do is to ignore the now accepted role that one's environment and psychology play in illness development, as well as arguments concerning the social construction of mental illness. In doing so, I do not claim that there are no women who experience premenstrual distress or that their distress is not a lived experience. My point is that such distress can be recognised and considered significant without being pathologised and that it is unethical to describe premenstrual anger/distress as a mental disorder. Further, if the credibility of women's suffering is subject to doubt without a clinical diagnosis, then the way to address this problem is to change societal attitudes towards women's suffering, not to label women as mentally ill. The paper concludes with some broader implications for women and society of the change in status of PMDD in the DSM-5 as well as a sketch of critical policy suggestions to address these implications.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Date: 21-12-2018
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 15-03-2017
DOI: 10.1007/S11673-017-9783-Z
Abstract: Non-medical sex selection is premised on the notion that the sexes are not interchangeable. Studies of in iduals who undergo sex selection for non-medical reasons, or who have a preference for a son or daughter, show that they assume their child will conform to the stereotypical roles and norms associated with their sex. However, the evidence currently available has not succeeded in showing that the gender traits and inclinations sought are caused by a "male brain" or a "female brain". Therefore, as far as we know, there is no biological reason why parents cannot have the kind of parenting experience they seek with a child of any sex. Yet gender essentialism, a set of unfounded assumptions about the sexes which pervade society and underpin sexism, prevents parents from realising this freedom. In other words, unfounded assumptions about gender constrain not only a child's autonomy, but also the parent's. To date, reproductive autonomy in relation to sex selection has predominantly been regarded merely as the freedom to choose the sex of one's child. This paper points to at least two interpretations of reproductive autonomy and argues that sex selection, by being premised on gender essentialism and/or the social pressure on parents to ensure their children conform to gender norms, undermines reproductive autonomy on both accounts.
Publisher: Project MUSE
Date: 2017
Publisher: BMJ
Date: 19-04-2017
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 19-10-2017
DOI: 10.1007/S10897-016-0022-2
Abstract: Ethical issues arise for genetic counselors when a client fails to disclose a genetic diagnosis of hereditary disease to family: they must consider the rights of the in idual client to privacy and confidentiality as well as the rights of the family to know their genetic risk. Although considerable work has addressed issues of non-disclosure from the client's perspective, there is a lack of qualitative research into how genetic counselors address this issue in practice. In this study, a qualitative approach was taken to investigate whether genetic counselors in Australia use a relational approach to encourage the disclosure of genetic information from hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) clients among family members and if so, how they use it. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 16 genetic counselors from selected states across Australia. Data collection and analysis were guided by a basic iterative approach incorporating a hybrid methodology to thematic analysis. The findings provide indicative evidence of genetic counselors employing a relational approach in three escalating stages--covert, overt and authoritative--to encourage the disclosure of genetic information. The findings lend credence to the notion that genetic counselors envision a form of relational autonomy for their clients in the context of sharing genetic information, and they depart from in idualistic conceptions of care/solely client-centered counseling when addressing the needs of other family members to know their genetic status.
Publisher: Project MUSE
Date: 2017
Publisher: BMJ
Date: 04-02-2017
DOI: 10.1136/MEDETHICS-2015-102989
Abstract: A new technique called non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) has been developed, which can detect a range of genetic and chromosomal diseases, as well as fetal sex earlier, more easily and more reliably. NIPT, therefore, potentially expands the market for sex determination and sex selective abortion. This paper argues that both practices should be prevented by not including fetal sex in prenatal test reports. This is because there is a discrepancy between what parents are concerned with (gender) and what the prenatal test can provide (sex). The paper first presents arguments, which indicate a difference between sex and gender before presenting parental motivations for sex selection and sex determination to show that parents are not concerned with their child's sex chromosomes, or even their genitalia, but the gender role that their child will espouse. That, however, is not something that a prenatal test can provide. We are thus left with a situation in which what parents are told, and what they think they are being told, are two different things. In other words, as the conflation of sex with gender is implicit in the disclosure of fetal sex, it may be more accurate to refer to it as misinformation. This misinformation promotes sexism via gender essentialism, which is neither in the interests of the future child nor society.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 07-05-2021
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 28-03-2013
DOI: 10.1007/S11019-012-9409-5
Abstract: Fredrik Svenaeus has applied Heidegger's concept of 'being-in-the-world' to health and illness. Health, Svenaeus contends, is a state of 'homelike being-in-the-world' characterised by being 'balanced' and 'in-tune' with the world. Illness, on the other hand, is a state of 'unhomelike being-in-the-world' characterised by being 'off-balance' and alienated from our own bodies. This paper applies the phenomenological concepts presented by Svenaeus to cases from a study of depression. In doing so, we show that while they can certainly enrich our understanding of depression, they can also reveal a clash between some societal definitions of illness and the in idual's definition. Phenomenological analysis may thus cause us to question what we mean, or think should be meant, by the terms 'health' and 'illness'.
Publisher: University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress)
Date: 02-2022
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 04-2020
Publisher: ANU Press
Date: 20-12-2022
DOI: 10.22459/LFHJ.28.03
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-12-2019
DOI: 10.1007/S11019-019-09933-3
Abstract: 'Gender disappointment' is the feeling of sadness when a parent's strong desire for a child of a certain sex is not realised. It is frequently mentioned as a reason behind parents' pursuit of sex selection for social reasons. It also tends to be framed as a mental disorder on a range of platforms including the media, sex selection forums and among parents who have been interviewed about sex selection. Our aim in this paper is to investigate whether 'gender disappointment' represents a unique diagnosis. We argue that 'gender disappointment' does not account for a unique, distinct category of mental illness, with distinct symptoms or therapy. That said, we recognise that parents' distress is real and requires psychological treatment. We observe that this distress is rooted in gender essentialism, which can be addressed at both the in idual and societal level.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 18-01-2018
Abstract: What is family-centred care of a hospitalized child? A critical understanding of the concept of family-centred care is necessary if this widely preferred model is to be differentiated from other health care ideals and properly evaluated as appropriate to the care of hospitalized children. The article identifies distinguishable interpretations of family-centred care that can pull health professionals in different, sometimes conflicting directions. Some of these interpretations are not qualitatively different from robust interpretations of the ideals of parental participation, care-by-parent and partnership in care that are said to be the precursors of family-centred care. A prominent interpretation that regards the child and his or her family collectively as the ‘unit of care’ arguably arises from ambiguity and is significantly problematic as a model for the care of hospitalized children. Clinical practice driven by this interpretation can include courses of action that do not aim to do what will best promote a hospitalized child’s welfare, and such cases will not be unusual. More broadly, this interpretation raises challenging questions about the responsibilities and authority of health professionals in relation to the interests of hospitalized children and their families.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-05-2023
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 04-2012
No related grants have been discovered for Tamara Browne.