Persistent Suffering in Chronic Conditions: Rethinking Psychological Well-Being Beyond Adaptation

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue of Healthcare, entitled “Persistent Suffering in Chronic Conditions: Rethinking Psychological Well-Being Beyond Adaptation”.

Suffering in chronic conditions cannot be reduced solely to physical symptoms or biological impairment. Rather, it constitutes a complex, multidimensional, and deeply subjective experience involving emotional, social, relational, existential, and cultural dimensions. In recent decades, models of psychological well-being centered on adaptation, coping, resilience, and adherence have become increasingly prominent in healthcare research and practice. Although such approaches may offer important contributions, they may also risk reducing suffering to a problem of adjustment to existing conditions and systems.

This Special Issue will critically examine persistent suffering in chronic conditions, emphasizing perspectives that explore the subjective, relational, and psychosocial dimensions of chronicity. We particularly welcome contributions that problematize reductionist understandings of well-being and adaptation while advancing more complex approaches to mental health in healthcare contexts.

The Special Issue is aligned with the scope of Healthcare, particularly within the section “Mental Health and Psychosocial Well-being”, as it will promote interdisciplinary discussions on psychological suffering, chronicity, subjectivity, and healthcare practices.

Original research articles, review articles, and theoretical studies are welcome. Analyses grounded in psychoanalytic, phenomenological, and related approaches that consider the subjectivity of suffering are especially encouraged. Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods studies investigating the persistence of suffering over time and its implications for healthcare are also welcome.

Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Persistent suffering in chronic illness and long-term health conditions;
• Psychological well-being beyond adaptation and coping;
• Subjectivity and chronicity;
• Psychosocial and psychoanalytic perspectives on suffering;
• Phenomenological approaches to illness experience;
• Mental health and chronic conditions;
• Emotional dimensions of healthcare;
• Existential and relational aspects of chronic suffering;
• Critiques of adaptation-centered healthcare models;
• Ethical and clinical implications of persistent suffering in healthcare contexts.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Rodrigo Sanches Peres
Guest Editor

Prof. Dr. Eduardo Name Risk
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Healthcare is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.