Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Medical Trauma: Developing A Model For Medical Traumatic Stress, Audrey Ryan

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

The working title of my dissertation is Betrayal of the Body: Medical Diagnosis as a Trauma. This exploration of the concept of medical trauma is focused on how people with a new medical diagnosis experience and perceive it as an acute or prolonged trauma. Because medical diagnoses are quite common, and many illnesses are curable, treatable, or short-term in nature, they are often times not perceived as traumatic events. However, many illnesses are chronic, incurable and life-threatening, or life-shortening such as cancer, autoimmune diseases (e.g. multiple sclerosis) and neurological disorders (e.g. Parkinson’s, ALS). In these specific instances, a medical …