Avhandling
Att drabbas av långvarig smärta och utmattning innebär ett stort lidande. Det är många kvinnor som drabbas av smärta och utmattning. I min avhandling fördjupade jag mig i det lidande som långvarig smärta och utmattning innebär för kvinnor.
Gebhardt, A. J. (2021). Beyond exhaustion and pain : the intertwinement of health and suffering among women and mothers. Karolinska Institutet. Thesis.
PREFACE
One of the most fundamental phenomena in humankind is that humans care for each other. From an evolutionary perspective, caring for others and caring for offspring meant enhanced survival both for males and females. Nowadays, much of caring is performed by women and mothers. As a woman, daughter, sister, wife, friend, nurse, midwife, and mother, I started to wonder at some point in my life: What does it mean to care, what does it mean to be a woman and a mother, and what do women’s situations in life mean for their health? What kind of care do women and mothers need for themselves?
Throughout my academic education I had several opportunities to focus on women’s health from various perspectives, particularly in relation to motherhood. I am deeply grateful that the Swedish educational system gave me the opportunity to broaden and deepen my understanding of the complexity of women’s and mothers’ health and to contribute to improving the care they need. During the course of my studies, I was lucky to meet Associate Professor Maria Arman, who became my main supervisor for this thesis. She taught me that women’s health and care can only be understood in the context of suffering. To be honest, studying the nature of suffering was not my first choice, but I could sense the meaning of it, and I opened my mind to studying the world of suffering. Today, after several years of studying women living with exhaustion and long-lasting pain, I am convinced that health care must include both suffering and vulnerability in its understanding of health. Like counterpoint in a musical composition, health, suffering, and vulnerability should be understood as interdependent but independent voices in human lives. With the understanding of health as an inherently dynamic phenomenon, which embraces existential aspects of life, we might be better equipped to care for women’s and mothers’ health and suffering. Doing so would mean caring for those who care at the core of humankind. In this thesis, I hope to thoroughly substantiate my reasoning for these claims.
Anja J. Gebhardt
Segersäng, October 2021