Nothing and Everything: Fibromyalgia as a Diagnosis of Exclusion and Inclusion

Abstract

The diagnostic process promises a label that validates patients’ embodied experiences and a road map for living with and treating illness. Drawing on 31 qualitative interviews with women and men in Canada and the United Kingdom who have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia (FM), in this article, I examine the participants’ experiences of the diagnostic process and how they feel about receiving this label. The interviews reflect that the FM label is plagued by uncertainty because the diagnosis is based on the absence of verifiable pathology. The respondents’ narratives also reveal that FM is a vague diagnosis that includes a multitude of symptoms, overlaps with several other diagnoses, and results in feelings of doubt regarding whether it is the correct label. Thus, the participants’ narratives reflect that the FM diagnosis is largely an empty promise because it fails to provide definitive answers or confer meaning and legitimacy to their illness experiences.