Abstract
The purpose of this qualitative study was to assess perspectives on the acceptability and the potential applicability of a forgiveness education in patients with fibromyalgia. The concept and tools of forgiveness were presented to thirteen women (age: 40 - 54 years) with a previous diagnosis of fibromyalgia. Subjects participated in 1 of 2 focus groups following a 90-minute education session in which forgiveness was presented as an emotion-focused coping strategy to deal with interpersonal stressors. Qualitative assessment of focus group discussions reveals 3 themes: 1) forgiveness is healthy and reduces pain, 2) forgiveness is within a patient’s personal control, and 3) forgiveness education is similar to other types of patient education and is well received. Our results suggest that forgiveness education is acceptable and feasible in patients with fibromyalgia. This justifies further exploration of forgiveness as an emotion-focused self- management strategy to decrease psychological distress.
Highlights
Fibromyalgia is a challenging diagnosis for affected patients, partly because of the elusive nature of an illness with no known cause or cure
Patients with fibromyalgia attempt to compensate and “fit in” by making extra efforts to demonstrate that their lives are normal, and this extra effort requires great physical and emotional energy expenditure [3]
Participants welcomed the notion that forgiveness was about controlling personal responses to adversity and injustice and understood that this control was especially relevant in the context of chronic pain
Summary
Fibromyalgia is a challenging diagnosis for affected patients, partly because of the elusive nature of an illness with no known cause or cure. An important clinical consideration may be to enhance emotion-based coping by decreasing the psychological burden imposed by interpersonal stressors. Three of the most common models of forgiveness-based interventions were those developed by Enright, by McCullough and Worthington, and by Luskin [10]. Our rationale was that learning to become more forgiving would enhance a patient’s ability to cope with numerous negative emotions (e.g., anger, fear, and depression) that were a consequence of the difficult diagnosis, the challenges of illness, and the stress from navigating the health care system. In order to obtain patients’ perspective regarding the acceptability and potential utility of this education, we conducted a qualitative study in a workshop setting and presented forgiveness as an emotion-focused coping strategy to patients with fibromyalgia
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