Barker Kristin K
University of New Mexico, 1915 Roma, Bldg. 78, Albuquerque, NM 87131, United States.
Soc Sci Med. 2014 Apr;106:168-76. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.01.024. Epub 2014 Jan 29.
This paper examines mindfulness as a popular and paradigmatic alternative healing practice within the context of contemporary medicalization trends. In recognition of the increasingly influential role popular media play in shaping ideas about illness and healing, what follows is a discursive analysis of bestselling mindfulness meditation self-help books and audio recordings by Jon Kabat-Zinn. The central and contradictory elements of this do-it-yourself healing practice as presented in these materials are best understood as aligned with medicalization trends for three principal reasons. First, mindfulness represents a significant expansion in the definition of disease beyond that advanced by mainstream medicine. Second, its etiological model intensifies the need for therapeutic surveillance and intervention. Third, by defining healing as a never-ending process, it permanently locates individuals within a disease-therapy cycle. In sum, the definition, cause, and treatment of disease as articulated by popular mindfulness resources expands the terrain of experiences and problems that are mediated by medical concepts. The case of mindfulness is a potent illustration of the changing character of medicalization itself.
本文探讨正念作为当代医学化趋势背景下一种流行且典型的替代疗法。鉴于大众媒体在塑造疾病与治愈观念方面发挥着越来越大的影响力，接下来将对乔恩·卡巴金（Jon Kabat-Zinn）的畅销正念冥想自助书籍及音频记录进行话语分析。这些材料中呈现的这种自助治疗方法的核心且矛盾的元素，出于三个主要原因，最好被理解为与医学化趋势相一致。首先，正念代表了疾病定义的显著扩展，超出了主流医学所提出的范围。其次，其病因模型强化了治疗监测和干预的必要性。第三，通过将治愈定义为一个永无止境的过程，它将个体永久置于疾病 - 治疗循环之中。总之，流行的正念资源所阐述的疾病定义、病因和治疗方法，扩展了由医学概念所介导的经验和问题的范围。正念的案例有力地说明了医学化本身性质的变化。
