Abstract

SANTO, Amanda Dal; SILVA, Rosanna Rita  and  SANTOS, Katia Alexsandra dos. Pain and psychoanalysis: what does fibromyalgia say about being a woman?. Rev. Subj. [online]. 2024, vol.24, n.1, e13302.  Epub Mar 20, 2026. ISSN 2359-0769.  https://doi.org/10.5020/23590777.rs.v24i1.e13302.

Fibromyalgia, situated between so-called physical pain and psychic pain, calls this separation into question, challenging biomedical sciences and denouncing how much the so-called organic body is challenged by language, therefore being a discursive element. For being a discourse, fibromyalgia points to the meanings and ways in which subjects relate to the world and themselves, serving as a way of expressing what it means to be a woman. This research interviewed three participants based on the clinical-qualitative method from a psychoanalytic perspective, seeking to establish the relationship between fibromyalgia and subjectivation as a woman in contemporary times. The results point to pain as an ambiguous signal that appears both when there is an abuse of one's own body at work and also when that body stops, that is, it stops producing pain, also being a signal for the constant attempt to reach a model, an ideal, and the abandonment of oneself in search of these ideals. Furthermore, the high demand for tasks, both in the public and private spheres and the constant availability to others proved to be common points in the three narratives. Finally, the intensification of fibromyalgia pain presents itself as a limit that forces women to say no to the imperatives related to being a woman in our society.

Keywords : pain; psychoanalysis; body; fibromyalgia; woman.

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