Health and the Rhetoric of Medicine

by Judy Segal

Assessing rhetorical principles of contemporary health issues Hypochondriacs are vulnerable to media hype, anorexics are susceptible to public scrutiny, and mi­graine sufferers are tainted with the history of the “migraine personality,” maintains rhetorical theorist Judy Z. Segal. All are influenced by the power of per­suasion. Health and the Rhetoric of Medicine explores per­sistent health conditions that resist conventional medical solutions. Using a range of rhetorical prin­ciples, Segal analyzes how patients and their illnesses are formed within the physician/patient relationship. The intractable problem of a patient’s rejection of a doctor’s advice, says Segal, can be considered a rhe­torical failure—a failure of persuasion. Examining the discourse of medicine through case studies, applications, and analyses, Segal illus­trates how illnesses are described in ways that limit patients’ choices and satisfaction. She also illuminates psychiatric conditions, infectious diseases, genetic testing, and cosmetic surgeries through the lens of rhetorical theory. Health and the Rhetoric of Medicine bridges criti­cal analysis for scholarly, professional, and lay audi­ences. Segal highlights the persuasive element in di­agnosis, health policy, illness experience, and illness narratives. She also addresses questions of direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs, the role of health information in creating the “worried well” and problems of trust and expertise in physician/patient relationships. A useful resource for critical common sense in everyday life, the text provides an effective examination of a society increasingly influ­enced by the rhetoric of health and medicine.

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this for my Grad class on Rhetoric of Health and Medicine. I liked the methodical way Segal set up her chapters and the history she wove into each discussion. Very easy to understand from the standpoint of someone who is not a medical expert.

[Natalee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good primer on the history of medical rhetoric and uses of discourse analysis. For 2005, I'm disappointed that there is little discussion of online health rhetoric.

Also, I think we need new metaphors for the doctor-patient interview. The doctor is not an expert who is ready to persuade a patient of a course of action and needs better tools. In cases of chronic and complex or health issues, there are usually multiple specialists interacting with a patient, across a fragmented system. The biggest problem I'm seeing is that every specialist offers as little information as possible, assuming that someone else has more time and interest, and/or that the patient knows the questions they need to ask.

In her analysis of the micro-level (medical terminology, analyzing single words), Segal offers excellent insight and balanced arguments. She engages with opposing critics and she clearly states that we cannot easily swap new terms for old ones -- terms gain currency in a specific culture. She also offers good examples of the grey zones. Buzzwords are rarely entirely "good" or entirely "bad/limiting" labels, diagnoses, and metaphors, she argues. This part was thoroughly useful and complex. I would like to see it situated within an updated and nuanced context of today's digital and fragmented medical encounters. Well...that's my major research project in a nutshell. (So far.) Hooray!

[Josephine Ensign · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent overview of this topic and another book I want to have in my own library.