preview

Women 's Experience With Pain Essay

Better Essays

People who use medications often incorporate those drugs into their life in a variety of ways. For some, it is a life-saving that must be used in order to live. But for others, such as my informant, Amanda, some drugs that are not necessary for life have become equated as a “staple” item. Staple items by definition are “a main or important element of something, especially of a diet, such as bread, milk, etc.,” (dictionary.com). However, in her life, she has come to define the pain relieving drug, Advil, as “staple” for her health. Thus, the goal of my paper is to trace what caused Advil to become tantamount with necessary nourishment. Through the analysis of Amanda’s experience with pain, I will examine how both models of health are enacted as she takes Advil, which have come to change the biomedical intended purpose to a “staple” of life. To further my analysis, I will be referencing Joseph Dumit’s book, Drugs for Life: How Pharmaceutical Companies Define Our Health, Mol and Law’s paper, “Embodied Action, Enacted Bodies: The Example of Hypoglycemia,” and Clara Han’s chapter, “Labor Instability and Community Mental Health: The Work of Pharmaceuticals in Santiago, Chile.”
Most drugs can be characterized as following the mass model of health or the individual model of health. However, despite these preconceived categories created by pharmaceutical companies, drugs sometimes do not fall into one specific category. For my informant, her use of Advil combines both health

Get Access