Fearing the worst yet to come: Derrida and health anxiety. (August 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kelly, Molly
• Is Part Of: Theory & psychology. Volume 31:Number 4(2021)
• Page Start: 632
• Page End: 645
• Publication Date: 2021-08
• Subjects: autoimmunity -- Derrida -- health anxiety -- illness anxiety disorder -- pharmakon; Psychology -- Periodicals; 150.1
• DOI: 10.1177/0959354321991243
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0959-3543

Abstract

Building from the works of Jacques Derrida, this article explores health anxiety's aporetic relationship with medicine through a deconstructive approach. I argue that attention to Derrida's writings (and in particular, his readings of pharmakon and autoimmunity ) may prove useful in explaining the cyclical character of health anxiety and its ambivalent response to medical reassurance. What's more, I demonstrate how structuralist interpretations of health anxiety as a signifier without referent prove insufficient within a Derridean account. Such a reading emphasizes the need for interdisciplinary medical humanities as well as critical reflections on the possible limitations of Western medical semiotics.