Individuals Suffering from Medically Unexplained Symptoms

: Exploring Their Experiences of Psychological Therapies

Abstract

Medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) are one of several umbrella terms for illnesses without an organic pathology. Those suffering from MUS can be considered by some health
services as high utilisers of healthcare and perceived as a burden on an already stretched health service. Sufferers of MUS often present with co-morbid psychological conditions such
as anxiety and depression. Research indicates that MUS sufferers can demonstrate a lack of emotional awareness and the inability to distinguish bodily sensations arising from emotional
arousal, a phenomenon known as alexithymia. The aim of this research was to explore MUS
sufferers experience of psychological therapies. A systematic search was conducted to
explore the role of psychological therapies in treating MUS. The search unearthed a plethora
of studies of an etic nature and a limited number of emic studies, highlighting the need for an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) into the subjective experiences of sufferers. Verbatim transcripts from nine participant interviews were analysed, yielding seven superordinate themes with twenty subordinate themes within. The superordinate themes include: 1) Successful therapy factors: receiving existential recognition and safety, 2) Identifying lifestyle factors and trauma which may have led to illness, 3) Exploring the global impact of illness on all spheres of life, 4) Evolution from illness; striving towards a new sense of self, 5) Accepting and living with the symptoms: ongoing symptom management strategies, 6) See me to help me: frustration at failure of treatment models and 7) Emotions are stuck in my body: understanding of somatisation and psychosocial model of illness. Findings are in-line with prior quantitative and qualitative studies suggesting mixed-levels of effectiveness on symptom reduction. Discussion around participants experiences of therapies, and its impact, converged significantly with prior qualitative studies. Findings also indicate the presence of trauma, and a history of emotion avoidance and suppression (possible alexithymia) suggesting a nuanced connection between trauma and MUS.

Date of Award	12 May 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Roehampton
Supervisor	Tony Evans (Director of Studies) & David Goss (Co-Supervisor)