My Nerves

The article “The Shaking Women or A History of My Nerves” is an intriguing piece to read as it captures the idea of what it’s like struggling with an unknown disorder. The author, Siri Hustvedt, provides readers with a vision of her journey through the search of a diagnosis for her mysterious, shaking episodes. While on her journey, the author provides readers with an insight on various theoretical paradigms, historical views of abnormal behaviours and disorders as well as personal experiences living with an abnormal behaviours.
Furthering this, a major aspect I would like to make note of is her determinism and curiosity when in search for a diagnosis. I believe, the author chooses to look at various paradigms rather than focusing on one,
First, she speaks about the neurology of epilepsy. She assures herself, it cannot be epilepsy because to be diagnosed with epilepsy, her speech would have been hindered. With the ability to speek and full function of the brain, epilepsy was ruled out. Next, she moves to the psychoanalytic paradigm, where she is brought to the possibility of “hysteria” also called “conversion” disorder. This disorder is however, questioned as the individual will “dissociate” while the convulsions are present. Continuing with the diagnosis of hysteria in mind, the author moves to a biological paradigm where she discusses the terms “organic” and “non-organic.” I gained an understanding that if the diagnosis is organic, the abnormal behaviour lies within the individual’s biological predisposition. Whereas non- organic, would imply the abnormal behaviour lies within the individual’s environment. I believed this aspect to be interesting as she mentions, these particular terms to be reassuring to some individuals. Here, I began to take note of how she may be feeling emotionally burdened by the inability to find a diagnosis. She defines hysteria to be a non-organic disorder, meaning if it is in fact hysteria, something within her environment is triggering these symptoms. She appears to be questioning and
She begins to mention how the undetermined diagnosis is causing her to “fear the fear”. At this point she’s not concerned about the physical pain but more so, what is she to do when or if it happens again? “I felt wobbly and exhausted. I was plagued by some dizziness. But above all, I felt fear. What if it kept happening?” Personally, I could see how this can be anxiety provoking to an individual, not knowing when the episodes will occur, the inability to prevent the abnormal behaviour as well as the stigma and victimization that can one may be exposed to while living with an abnormal behaviour.
In close, I was able to recognize why it’s so important that psychiatrist and doctors devote much of their time defining diagnosis. Materials like the DSM, can help provide individuals with a sense of togetherness, understanding and reassurance as this article makes it evident, living with symptoms of an abnormal behaviour can be anxiety provoking. When one struggles in finding a diagnosis they’re left fearing what might come, feeling isolated, coping mechanisms are put on hold, and overall, left with the burdening thought of being