Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O presente trabalho investiga os diferentes processos sociais relacionados ao surgimento do transtorno de estresse pós-traumático (TEPT) no contexto brasileiro. Categoria diagnóstica norte-americana instituída na década de 1980 pela terceira edição do Manual Diagnóstico e Estatístico de Transtornos Mentais (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-III) uma publicação da Associação Americana de Psiquiatria (American Psychiatric Association APA) o TEPT tornou-se, desde a sua aparição, uma das categorias nosológicas mais difundidas, estudadas e diagnosticadas da psiquiatria contemporânea. A partir do cotidiano de um laboratório de pesquisa e tratamento do TEPT, de análises conversacionais dos atendimentos médicos, de um estudo das diferentes escalas psiquiátricas utilizadas no acompanhamento dos pacientes e de pesquisas sobre a mídia relacionada às experiências traumáticas buscou-se entender os entrelaçamentos entre os processos de difusão e a construção da legitimidade da categoria diagnóstica do TEPT. A abordagem aqui proposta pretende ir além do aparente dilema entre uma concepção medicalizada que assumem a existência o TEPT como um fenômeno natural e as abordagens sócio-antropológicas que veem o TEPT como uma experiência culturalmente construída. Por fim, pretendo mostrar, pela investigação dos alicerces políticos e culturais dos denominados transtornos mentais, que o estatuto social dos diagnósticos e dos tratamentos da moderna psiquiatria só pode ser compreendido tendo como referência as dinâmicas de longo prazo nas sociedades contemporâneas. / This dissertation examines the social processes related to the reception of the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Brazil. Originating in the United States during the 1980, this diagnostic category first appeared in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-III, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association APA. It soon became one of the most studied and diagnosed syndrome of contemporary psychiatry. In order to map out the interrelated processes of diffusion and construction of PTSD I resorted to the analysis of a gamut sources: the daily operation of a research and treatment psychiatric institution, the verbal exchanges between psychiatrists and patients during medical appointments, psychiatric manuals and diagnostic tables and questionnaires, and mass media articles on PTSD. The approach adopted here intends to go beyond the apparent dilemma between a medicalized conception of PTSD as a natural phenomenon and an anthropological approach that sees PTSD as a culturally construed social experience. Finally, I also intend to show that the political and cultural underpinnings of the so called mental disorders cannot be correctly understood without taking into consideration the longue dureé dynamics of contemporary societies.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O presente trabalho investiga os diferentes processos sociais relacionados ao surgimento do transtorno de estresse pós-traumático (TEPT) no contexto brasileiro. Categoria diagnóstica norte-americana instituída na década de 1980 pela terceira edição do Manual Diagnóstico e Estatístico de Transtornos Mentais (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-III) uma publicação da Associação Americana de Psiquiatria (American Psychiatric Association APA) o TEPT tornou-se, desde a sua aparição, uma das categorias nosológicas mais difundidas, estudadas e diagnosticadas da psiquiatria contemporânea. A partir do cotidiano de um laboratório de pesquisa e tratamento do TEPT, de análises conversacionais dos atendimentos médicos, de um estudo das diferentes escalas psiquiátricas utilizadas no acompanhamento dos pacientes e de pesquisas sobre a mídia relacionada às experiências traumáticas buscou-se entender os entrelaçamentos entre os processos de difusão e a construção da legitimidade da categoria diagnóstica do TEPT. A abordagem aqui proposta pretende ir além do aparente dilema entre uma concepção medicalizada que assumem a existência o TEPT como um fenômeno natural e as abordagens sócio-antropológicas que veem o TEPT como uma experiência culturalmente construída. Por fim, pretendo mostrar, pela investigação dos alicerces políticos e culturais dos denominados transtornos mentais, que o estatuto social dos diagnósticos e dos tratamentos da moderna psiquiatria só pode ser compreendido tendo como referência as dinâmicas de longo prazo nas sociedades contemporâneas. / This dissertation examines the social processes related to the reception of the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Brazil. Originating in the United States during the 1980, this diagnostic category first appeared in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-III, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association APA. It soon became one of the most studied and diagnosed syndrome of contemporary psychiatry. In order to map out the interrelated processes of diffusion and construction of PTSD I resorted to the analysis of a gamut sources: the daily operation of a research and treatment psychiatric institution, the verbal exchanges between psychiatrists and patients during medical appointments, psychiatric manuals and diagnostic tables and questionnaires, and mass media articles on PTSD. The approach adopted here intends to go beyond the apparent dilemma between a medicalized conception of PTSD as a natural phenomenon and an anthropological approach that sees PTSD as a culturally construed social experience. Finally, I also intend to show that the political and cultural underpinnings of the so called mental disorders cannot be correctly understood without taking into consideration the longue dureé dynamics of contemporary societies.

Studiens syfte har varit att undersöka upplevelsen och betydelsen av att få en ADHD-diagnos hos unga kvinnor. Studien har haft en kvalitativ ansats och består av intervjuer med tre kvinnor i åldrarna 24 till 30 år som alla har fått sin diagnos efter tjugo års ålder. Utskrifterna från dessa intervjuer har meningskoncentrerats och har analyserats utifrån känsla av sammanhang, diagnossociologiska tankeströmningar och medikaliseringsbegreppet. De två forskningsfrågor som studien har ämnat besvara har varit dels hur de intervjuade kvinnorna har upplevt att få en ADHD-diagnos och dels vilken betydelse ADHD-diagnosen har haft för de intervjuade kvinnorna. Resultatet visar att kvinnorna i studien upplevde det som mestadels positivt att få en ADHD-diagnos och att diagnosen har ökat deras känsla av sammanhang avseende framför allt begriplighet och hanterbarhet men även avseende meningsfullhet. Att få en diagnos har enligt mina informanter inneburit att de förstår sig själva bättre och att de också har fått en större förståelse från andra. Diagnosen har också fungerat som en förklaringsmodell för ens eget beteende. Förutom att egna beteenden har omdefinierats till att förstås utifrån en medicinsk förklaringsmodell har diagnosen även inneburit att kvinnorna fått tillgång till hjälp och hjälpmedel som exempelvis receptbelagda läkemedel. Det har också underlättat utvecklingen av strategier för att klara av vardagen genom att antingen ”ADHD-säkra” eller använda diagnosen som en felsökningsmanual. Slutligen visar studien, som dess titel skvallrar om, på en alternativ bild av att ha en ADHD-diagnos än den som vanligtvis förmedlas i samhället, där kvinnorna ser på ADHD mer som en uppsättning personlighetsdrag som förvisso kan innebära vissa svårigheter i vardagen men som också för många goda saker med sig så som kreativitet, initiativrikedom och en förmåga att se möjligheter där andra ser problem. / The purpose of this study was to examine the experience and the meaning of being diagnosed with ADHD in young women. The study had a qualitative approach and consists of interviews with three women aged 24 to 30 whom all received their diagnosis after the age of 20. The transcripts from the interviews have been processed through meaning condensation and then content analysis, focusing on sense of coherence, sociology of diagnosis and medicalization. The study aims to answer two questions – how the interviewed women experienced being diagnosed with ADHD and what meaning the diagnosis had for the interviewed women. The results shows that the women in this study mainly had positive experiences of being diagnosed with ADHD and that the diagnosis increased their sense of coherence mainly in regards of comprehensibility and manageability but also regarding meaningfulness. Getting an ADHD-diagnosis has, according to the interviewed women, led to a greater understanding of themselves and also to a more understanding approach from others. The diagnosis has also been used as an explanation model for their own behavior. In addition to own behaviors being redefined to be understood in a medicinal explanation model, the diagnosis has also meant that the women has gained access to help and aids like, for instance, prescription drugs. It has also facilitated the development of strategies for managing everyday life through either “ADHD-securing” and using the diagnosis as a manual for troubleshooting.  Finally, this study shows an alternative picture of having an ADHD-diagnosis that differs from the picture that is usually conveyed in society, where the women in this study perceive ADHD more as a set of personality traits that indeed may cause difficulties in their everyday life but also brings a lot of good things with it, such as creativity, an ability to take initiatives and an ability to see possibilities where others see problems.

<p>This dissertation takes the format of a "three paper model" (i.e. Sandwich Thesis), and all three articles have been submitted for publication.</p> <p>Article 1 (Chapter 4) - appears in <em>Food, Culture & Society (2014).</em></p> <p>Article 2 (Chapter 5) - appears in <em>Social Science & Medicine (2014).</em></p> <p>Article 3 (Chapter 6) - Revise & Resubmit from <em>Sociology of Health & Illness</em></p> / <p>Food and the various aspects surrounding what we eat, what we <em>should</em> eat, and concerns about how to remain healthy and ward off disease and illness is escalating while our choices are endless. In this competitive food market a new type has emerged: the functional food. Functional foods are those that have an added health benefit beyond the basic nutritional content and display physiological benefits in reducing chronic diseases. A popular category of functional foods are those that purport to lower one's cholesterol. In particular, high cholesterol is marketed as a "disease" rather than a risk factor for various cardiovascular diseases, such as heart disease. Little is known about the sociological diagnosis of high cholesterol and the marketing of functional foods, in particular with women. This dissertation address this gap by asking: (1) How is high cholesterol (HC) identified and marketed as a disease rather than a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases in functional food advertising - specifically addressing the Becel® pro.activ® margarine campaign? (2) How do women understand the issue and <em>causes </em>of high cholesterol; and (3) What do women understand the <em>solution </em>to high cholesterol to be and how do they view Becel's^® high cholesterol solution? --The findings center on 4 key issues: <ol> <li>The construction and marketing of high cholesterol <em>as a disease</em> (i.e. via the sociology of diagnosis), rather than a risk factor for heart disease;</li> <li>The causes of high cholesterol and attribution of blame are placed on women's poor lifestyle choices and seen as an individual responsibility;</li> <li>There are class differences regarding women's knowledge and awareness of the social determinants of health (SDOH); and</li> <li>The solution to high cholesterol is individualized via the 'proactive myopia' repertoire.</li> </ol></p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)