The Life Story Analysis of Those Suffering from Autoimmune Thyroiditis

<p>The purpose of this study was to understand the pervasive impacts of autoimmune thyroiditis, specifically Hashimoto’s and Graves’ disease. To accomplish this, the life story methodology was utilized to gather individual experiences from 11 participants diagnosed with Hashimoto’s or Graves’ disease. The participants completed a background and general health questionnaire and 45- to-100-minute virtual interview disclosing their journey from the onset of symptoms, through diagnosis, to their most recent state. Themes were compiled from the interviews, which allowed identification of the largest areas of impact, needs, and future implications for practitioners and providers. Major themes identified were decreased quality of life, a lifelong medical/physical diagnosis requiring treatment, comorbid psychological implications, decreased executive functioning, as well as social, work, and/or academic, and financial impacts. There are many deficits in Western medicine, specifically needs for more accurate diagnostic measures and more immediate forms of intervention. Feedback was provided from participants regarding areas of improvement for providers, including providing better education to patients regarding their diagnosis and forms of treatment, not making assumptions, and asking more questions to get a better understanding.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Psy.D. Doctor of Clinical Psychology

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation - Public Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Clinical Psychology

Year dc:date.available

2022

Author dc:creator

• Di Nardi, Azalea

Contributors dc:contributor

• Bradley Olson
• Kristen M Newberry
• Judah Viola

• Endocrine System Diseases
• Immune System Diseases
• Other Psychiatry and Psychology

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/658

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.nl.edu:diss-1707