Healing Themes

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Healing Themes

• Rels 120
• Feb 2008

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Illness as Crisis

• For many people, serious, life-threatening
  illness brings about a crisis that results in
  renewal or transformation.
• their whole life changes
• they are transformed
• they become more alert and aware of themselves
  and those around them
• they see people and situations in a different way
• usually, this is a positive transformation

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Myth of Rebirth

• In many accounts of illness as crisis, there is a
  before and an after
• before the cancer or heart attack or onset of
  ALS, and after
• who I was, how I saw life, what held meaning for
  me before
• the different person I became, how life was
  different, what things I came to value
• like a rebirth, or a conversion a total
  transformation of the self

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Conversion

• A pathography can take the form of an
  autobiographical conversion account
• this is who I was before
• this is what changed me
• this is who I am now
• especially common in accounts of heart attacks
• type A personality driven workaholic
• heart attack crisis fear pain vulnerability
• slow down appreciate family friends notice
  nature take time

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Conversion as Process

• Heart attack transformative crisis sudden,
  intense, specific time frame
• Cancer more of a process still a crisis, but
  not so sudden, not over so quickly
• Most often, still a positive transformation
• sometimes not
• sometimes evidence of bitterness, loss,
  diminishment of life
• transformation of limitations

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Confession

• As Kinsley points out, a significant component of
  conversion is often confession
• what is wrong with how we have been living our
  life
• our intentions to change repentance turning
  the other way
• living in the new way changing life and self
• reminiscent of central healing theme in
  traditional cultures

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Illness as Journey

• Many pathographies use journey in their titles,
  and as a metaphor or myth for their experience
  with illness.
• sometimes the journey is to another, unfamiliar
  place into foreign land
• experiences of chaos, fear, pain, unfamiliarity
  of context
• an alternative, parallel world, previously
  unencountered an alien environment
• quest motif go elsewhere and return with a
  trophy or gift

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Journey (contd)

• trophy may be gift of health, or life, or
  remission
• or knowledge deep insight into self life
• journey may seem like an exile experience of
  being forced out of regular life, eg. in cancer
  or AIDS
• journey may be to the brink of death, then
  returning to life
• attitude of ill person toward illness and life
  determines whether it is a quest or an exile

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3-stage Rite of Passage

• Kinsley notes that journey pathographies can
  use the pattern of rites of passage (e.g., birth,
  marriage, death)
• 3 stages or phases
• separation transition or marginality
  reincorporation or completion
• hospital rituals, customs, requirements
• explorer, pilgrim, traveler
• often experienced as dehumanizing
• seek reincorporation into normal world

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Battle Metaphor

• disease as the alien/enemy to be fought
• illness invading the persons body
• especially common in describing cancer
• patients and health care professionals are all
  potential warriors
• disengaged patient not fighting the battle
• immune system, chemotherapy, or radiation the
  knights who fight
• patient may experience some control

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Battle (contd)

• struggle between life/death health/ illness
  light/darkness good/evil
• dualistic model antagonism fight
• mental imagery of invasion, resistance, fighting
  back
• one of the main metaphors of modern medical
  culture
• western medicine attacks disease
• eastern medicine strengthens health of person

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Making Sense of Death

• modern medicine focuses on preserving life
  warding off death
• traditional healers included the dying process as
  part of caring for the ill
• doctors nurses may withdraw in favour of
  clergy patients may be discharged from hospital
  and medical care
• exception is in palliative care settings
• a specialty not training for all

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The Dying Patient

• seeks a good death not just the final loss in
  the battle for life
• find meaning, possibly redemption, in death
• some personal control and responsibility for the
  process
• not alone presence of family friends
• with still some quality of life remaining
• plan funeral grieve with loved ones say
  good-byes attend to process of dying