Cycle Of Despair Research Articles

Resisting Trauma: Exploring Queer Emotional Narratives in Madame from the Perspective of Cultural Politics of Emotion in Chinese Context

This paper delves into the documentary Madame, examining the intricate emotional narrative of Qihui Fan within the Chinese cultural framework using Sara Ahmed’s Cultural Politics of Emotion. By analyzing Fan’s experiences, encompassing childhood strife, youth prostitution, and grappling with a sense of nothingness in middle age, the exploration delves into his emotional journey and the construction of his queer identity. Employing Ahmed’s framework, it dissects how emotions, notably pain and pleasure, interplay within Fan’s narrative. Through resisting societal norms and embracing a persona—madame “BILAN DE LINPHEL,” Fan navigates pleasure as a form of rebellion against heteronormativity. However, this pleasure is fleeting, entangled in a cycle of despair, as his narrative oscillates between self-empowerment and trauma-driven despair. The analysis uncovers Fan’s struggle for recognition in a society with limited tolerance for queer identities. It scrutinizes the performance of emotions, the role of pleasure in resistance, and the narrative’s performative nature. Ultimately, this examination unravels the complex interplay of emotions, societal control, and identity struggles within the context of Chinese queer culture, shedding light on the challenges and nuances faced by individuals like Fan.

Abstract 260: A Qualitative Study of Patient-reported Challenges to Heart Failure Home Management

Background: Patients with heart failure (HF) have high 30-day hospital readmission rates. Interventions designed to prevent readmissions have had mixed success. Viewing HF home management through the lens of a patient’s experience may reframe the readmission “problem” and inform a range of alternative strategies. Methods: We conducted open-ended, semi-structured interviews with HF patients who had a 30-day readmission or had been discharged in the past month. Data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. The purpose of the interviews was to understand the challenges to home HF management and the perceived reasons for readmission. Results: Face-to-face interviews with 31 patients, 16 (52%) with a 30-day readmission, revealed a combination of physical and socio-emotional influences on patients’ home management. Major themes related to readmission included symptom management, adherence vs adaptation, and emotional reactions. While patients reported symptom management as the leading reason for readmission, addressing symptoms was more complex than following recommendations. Patients identified an uncertainty regarding recommendations, caused by unclear instructions and temporal incongruence between behavior and symptom onset, as a factor that impaired their competence in making routine management decisions and resulted in a cycle of limit testing. Patients reported adapting —rather than strictly adhering to— recommendations to accommodate their emotional needs, socio-economic constraints, and comorbidities. For some, the onset of a distressing constellation of symptoms led to a cycle of despair characterized by fear and hopelessness, with the hospital being viewed as the safest place for recovery (see Figure 1). Conclusion: Anticipatory guidance regarding challenges to adherence may reduce uncertainty, but is likely insufficient. Early palliative care referral may help mitigate distressing symptoms, and address extreme emotions, perhaps forestalling premature readmission.

Turkey’s Efforts to Fight Human Trafficking in the Black Sea Region: A Regional Approach

The Black Sea region, with more than twelve major nations and thousands of kilometers of coastline, is still struggling to achieve sustained economic prosperity. To the north, the former states of the Soviet Union remain in transition, or are stuck in cycles of despair and poverty. To the south, Turkey has emerged as an engine of relative prosperity, particularly for the tens of thousands of labor migrants that flow across its borders every year. This dynamic region, with its striking disparity between rich and poor, is now situated at the center of a major fight to combat human trafficking. At the root of the problem is the acute poverty of the northern post-Soviet states. The citizens of these nations—notably Ukraine, Moldova, and Russia—are increasingly seeking entry into the Turkish economy, drawn by the false promise of financial gain. Strikingly, the push factors for the high rates of labor migration into Turkey are proving to be the same as those for trafficked individuals. The traffickers are exploiting the vulnerability of individuals who have few economic options, and are willing to take any chance to escape from communities with few jobs, and even fewer prospects for the improvement of one’s standard of living. Since the beginning of 2005, the Turkish government has adopted an innovative regional approach to the problem of human trafficking. International Organization for Migration (IOM) field offices, media organizations, and local NGOs in Moldova, Ukraine, and Romania (statistically the main source countries for victims of trafficking in Turkey) are working together with the Turkish government to promote Turkey’s own telephone helpline for victims of trafficking. The motivation for this is twofold. On the one hand, the Turkish authorities would like to encourage potential victims to verify the job opportunities that they have been offered by checking in with their national helplines, to find out whether or not the job offered actually exists. On the other hand, Turkey believes that if a person does fall prey to human traffickers in Turkey, they will be more likely to call a helpline number that they are already familiar with—as is being proven by the success of Turkey’s 157 helpline. Strikingly, Turkey is the only major destination country to adopt such a radical approach in an effort to offer potential victims an avenue to escape if they find themselves in danger. By establishing trust from the very beginning, the Turkish authorities expect to increase the chances for collabora-

Programmed For Despair? The Dynamics of Low Morale/High Burnout Welfare Organisations.

A class of welfare organisations is identified as characterised by low staff morale and a high burnout rate among workers. On the basis of personal observations and clinical data, the author analyses the dynamics of ‘low morale/high burnout’ institutions in terms of three interlocking factors: the proportion of staff whose career choice was motivated unconsciously by ‘family despair’; the way that personal staff issues interact dysfunctionally with the behaviour of clients and administrators; the existence of ‘societal despair’ – the belief that unjust and oppressive social conditions will never improve. A series of parallel processes at the levels of clients, staff and administration is identified, and the failure of training to address these processes is explained. Finally, the author proposes a single intervention at the organisational level, which has potential for reversing the ‘cycles of despair’ previously identified.