Diagnosis: A Liminal State for Women Living With Lupus

Women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE or lupus) often experience a protracted diagnostic period in which their symptoms are treated as medically unexplained. Although they know they are ill, their symptoms have not been validated as indicative of disease by a health care professional. Consequently, the diagnostic period can be viewed as liminal, the middle stage in the rites of passage and what Turner (1969/1997) has labeled betwixt and between. Drawing on the analysis of narratives solicited from 23 women recruited from online lupus support groups, I explore the gendered nature of diagnosis for women with lupus using van Gennep's (1960) rites of passage as a conceptual framework.