Description
Book SynopsisThere is a complex relationship between illness and identity. Missed and Dismissed Voices aims to expose the impact of hidden health problems on the daily lives of a growing number of adults who live with chronic conditions and repeatedly face the challenge of trying to maintain their personal sense of healthiness across the life course.
The book focuses on the meaning and management of both medically diagnosed chronic diseases and medically unexplained physical conditions or syndromes. In each case, people must decide whether to make their private suffering public. The book includes analysis derived from research literature, combined with illness narrative accounts of people in qualitative interviews and blog posts, to create fictional exemplary case studies for each of the chronic conditions examined. The common issues raised in these stories provide important insights into the process by which people manage to adapt to their changing health status and life circumsta
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements Preface Part One: Illness and Identity An Exploration 1. Understanding Our Sense of Healthiness The Mystery of Good Health: Some Initial Observations The Meaning of Good Health Alternative Interpretations of Self-Rated Health Health and Everyday Life Wounded Storytellers: Personal Accounts of Health and Illness The Healthy Self: Life Stories We Tell Others Collective Case Studies: Finding Common Voices in Illness Narratives 2. Maintaining a Healthy Self-Identity Learning to Live with Chronic Illness Daily Pain: An Invisible but Constant Companion The Decision to Disclose: Making Private Suffering Public Striking a Balance between “Carrying on” and “Giving in” Preserving One’s Personal Sense of Healthiness Part Two: Living with Medically Diagnosed Chronic Diseases An Unrelenting Assault on the Body and Self 3. Chronic Disease as a Disruptive Life Event Biographical Disruption: A Core Concept in the Study of Chronic Illness Different Levels of Assault: Interruption, Intrusion, and Immersion Visible and Invisible Aspects of Chronic Illness The Burden of Invisibility Challenges Facing These Wounded Storytellers: Being Heard 4. Life Stories about the Invisible Impact of Chronic Disease: Some Missed Voices Introduction: The Chronic Diseases Selected Case Study One – Diabetes A Brief Description of the Disease The Impact of Diabetes on Everyday Life A Common Life Story: Jim’s Illness Narrative Account Case Study Two – Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) A Brief Description of the Disease The Impact of IBD on Everyday Life A Common Life Story: Helen’s Illness Narrative Account Shared Storylines: A Summary Part Three: Living with Medically Unexplained Physical Symptoms Discounted Stories of Sickness and Suffering 5. Contested Chronic Illnesses: Uncertainty and the Quest for Credibility Understanding Sickness: The Presence of Disease and the Experience of Illness Hidden Health Problems that Are Not Only Invisible but Also Do Not Meet the Medical Definition of Disease Negotiating Contested Terrain: Dealing with Medically Unexplained Symptoms Adopting the Sick Role: Contending with a Crisis of Credibility and Gaining Legitimacy Challenges Facing These Wounded Storytellers: Being Heard and Believed 6. Life Stories about Uncertain and Invisible Chronic Illness: Some Dismissed Voices Introduction: The Chronic Conditions Selected Case Study Three - Fibromyalgia A Brief Description of the Illness The Impact of Fibromyalgia on Everyday Life A Common Life Story: Janet’s Illness Narrative Account Case Study Four – Chronic Fatigue Syndrome A Brief Description of the Illness The Impact of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome on Everyday Life A Common Life Story: Gail’s Illness Narrative Account Shared Storylines: A Summary Part Four: The Lifelong Pursuit of Healthiness Meeting the Challenges 7. Making Sense of Sickness: Explanation and Adaptation Self-Management of Hidden Chronic Health Problems Ongoing Chronic Illness-Related Work, Everyday Life Work, and Biographical Work Repairing a “Spoiled” Social Identity and Reconstructing a Healthy Self Supportive Social Networks and the Health of Older Adults Managing Chronic Illness in Later Life 8. Health across the Life Course A Life Course Perspective on Chronic Illness Advancing Age and Declining Health: Double Jeopardy Maintaining a Personal Sense of Healthiness as We Age: A Will to Health Living Well with Hidden Chronic Health Problems: The Quality of Later Life Healthy Aging: Some Concluding Thoughts Notes References Index
