This essay discusses the problems with the high rate of long-term sickness leave among women in Sweden. It is based on interviews with six women suffering from stress-related illness. The results show that these women hardly ever recieved an explicit diagnosis and therefore did not feel that their illness was acknowledged. In the abscense of measurable symptoms they were sometimes stigmatisized and accused of simulating their problems. From this position they tried to legitimize their situation by presenting themselves as respectable women. They seemed to be trapped between two roles, taking an active part in the labour market and struggling to be a good mother and wife. The illness can therefore, I argue, be seen as a result of the subordination of women in the Swedish society.

<p>This essay discusses the problems with the high rate of long-term sickness leave among women in Sweden. It is based on interviews with six women suffering from stress-related illness. The results show that these women hardly ever recieved an explicit diagnosis and therefore did not feel that their illness was acknowledged. In the abscense of measurable symptoms they were sometimes stigmatisized and accused of simulating their problems. From this position they tried to legitimize their situation by presenting themselves as respectable women. They seemed to be trapped between two roles, taking an active part in the labour market and struggling to be a good mother and wife. The illness can therefore, I argue, be seen as a result of the subordination of women in the Swedish society.</p>