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Questions and Answers
What is the primary aim of illness narratives?
What is the primary aim of illness narratives?
Which of the following represents a fundamental change associated with chronic illness?
Which of the following represents a fundamental change associated with chronic illness?
What does the narrative reconstruction of self help individuals find within their illness?
What does the narrative reconstruction of self help individuals find within their illness?
Illness narratives can be used strategically in social interactions to achieve what?
Illness narratives can be used strategically in social interactions to achieve what?
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In the context of an individual's experience with illness, which question addresses personal responsibility?
In the context of an individual's experience with illness, which question addresses personal responsibility?
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What is one of the symbolic meanings of illness as discussed in the content?
What is one of the symbolic meanings of illness as discussed in the content?
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How does Sontag’s work relate to perceptions of illness?
How does Sontag’s work relate to perceptions of illness?
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What common question arises from individuals experiencing chronic illness regarding their moral values?
What common question arises from individuals experiencing chronic illness regarding their moral values?
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How do parents of ill children often construct their narratives?
How do parents of ill children often construct their narratives?
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What is a key characteristic of illness narratives as strategic devices?
What is a key characteristic of illness narratives as strategic devices?
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What effect does publicizing an illness narrative have on individual experience?
What effect does publicizing an illness narrative have on individual experience?
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In the context of the Parsonian sick role, which step does NOT typically occur?
In the context of the Parsonian sick role, which step does NOT typically occur?
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What does Arthur W. Frank describe as 'quest' in illness narratives?
What does Arthur W. Frank describe as 'quest' in illness narratives?
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Which narrative approach conveys the notion of illness as a continuous struggle without resolution?
Which narrative approach conveys the notion of illness as a continuous struggle without resolution?
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What role do epidemics, like C-19, play in illness narratives?
What role do epidemics, like C-19, play in illness narratives?
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What is a 'master narrative' of medicine as described in the restitution aspect of illness narratives?
What is a 'master narrative' of medicine as described in the restitution aspect of illness narratives?
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How do illness narratives primarily affect an individual's identity?
How do illness narratives primarily affect an individual's identity?
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What is one of the key aims of illness narratives?
What is one of the key aims of illness narratives?
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Which of the following describes the concept of 'collective illness phenomena' in the context of illness narratives?
Which of the following describes the concept of 'collective illness phenomena' in the context of illness narratives?
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What role does narrative play in the experience of illness according to the content?
What role does narrative play in the experience of illness according to the content?
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What is a vital skill for doctors as highlighted in the content relating to illness narratives?
What is a vital skill for doctors as highlighted in the content relating to illness narratives?
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Which of the following options can illness narratives help reconstruct?
Which of the following options can illness narratives help reconstruct?
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What is one way illness narratives provide context for understanding illness?
What is one way illness narratives provide context for understanding illness?
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What is a primary function of constructing a 'world of illness' through narratives?
What is a primary function of constructing a 'world of illness' through narratives?
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Study Notes
Illness Narratives
- Subjective accounts of coping with illness
- Offer an unmatched window into subjective experience
- Shape how we conduct our lives, how we come to terms with pain, what we appropriate from our own experience, and what we disown
- They shape how we conduct our lives, how we come to terms with pain, what we can appropriate from our own experience, and what we disown – at the familiar price of neurosis.
Aim of Illness Narratives
- Make sense of our experiences
- Provide biographical and cultural context of illness
- How people experience, understand and incorporate their illness into their identity
5 Uses of Illness Narratives
- Construct a world of illness
- Reconstruct one’s life history in the event of chronic illness
- Explain and understand the illness
- Assert or project one’s (new) identity
- Transform illness from an individual to a collective phenomenon
The World of Illness
- Illness is experienced as a disintegration of patients’ ordinary or "healthy world."
- Through narrative, suffering is given a form: the illness is articulated and positioned in time and space, and within the framework of a personal biography.
- Narrative then connects the symptoms and disruptions of illness into a meaningful whole - thereby creating the world of illness.
Reconstruction of Life History
- Facing the change: we are forced to revise our personal identities and life histories in terms of the illness
- By interpreting the illness, we re-establish the relationship between the self, the world and our bodies.
- Narrative reconstruction of the self is concerned with finding meaning and importance of the illness within the context of one's own life and reconstructing the narrative of the self.
- Illness becomes an epiphany: illness = symbolic means employed by the psyche to bring unresolved psychological conflicts to the awareness level.
Explanation and Understanding of Illness
- Illness raises questions for the individual: Why me? Why was I the one afflicted? How will the illness affect the functioning of my body?
- Narrative = provides the possible explanations for the illness and perhaps even for finding a way of relating to the illness.
- Seek to establish some kind of practical relationship to the illness to deal with the practical problems caused by the illness.
- Sontag’s work challenges the victim-blaming association between the illness and the character of the person.
- Illness forces us to ask ourselves if there is a connection between the illness and our moral values embodied in the lifestyle.
Strategic Device
- Illness narratives can be used to achieve certain strategic effects in social interaction.
- Descriptions of illness can also be used for strategic purposes: to excuse or explain certain actions or behaviour by blaming it on illness.
- A shared cultural conception of illness as something that befalls one is used to disclaim any responsibility for one's actions.
Restitution, Quest and Chaos (Arthur W. Frank)
- Restitution is based on the Parsonian sick role: a person is ill, finds out what is wrong, seeks help and/or uses medication, and the health is restored.
- Quest is defined by the ill person’s belief that something is to be gained through the experience: illness is a metaphorical journey from which the ill person may gain self-awareness, or the ability to help others.
- Chaos: There is no actual or imagined end. Illness narratives aim for the reconstruction of identity and personal life: a "loss of self", particularly in connection with chronic illness. fundamental changes in the individual's life and lifestyle: increasing physical handicap, declining capability, or extreme sensitivity to certain chemical substances or certain types of social situations.
How Professionals and Parents Use Illness Narratives
- Professionals assert their own positions and knowledge in relation to the medical hierarchy.
- Parents of children who have fallen ill can construct narratives about the maltreatment their children suffered at the hands of care professionals to assert their own moral value as parents or to justify their own actions.
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Description
Explore the intricate world of illness narratives, which provide subjective accounts of coping with illness. This quiz delves into how these narratives shape personal identity, understanding of illness, and the collective experience of chronic health conditions.
