I have followed the comments on this issue with great interest. Here in the
US we are infamous for analyzing social and political problems in
psychological terms. Perhaps the most egregious example is the construction
of the recovery
from Vietnam War as largely a matter of individual treatment for
post-traumatic stress disorder rather than a national discussion over
mindless policy. I agree that chronic illness, as with most disabilities,
is largely defined by the medical worldview while people. While the
biological aspect of disease absolutely must be attended to, there is
little recognition that chronic illness percipitates varying degrees of
segregation from family, friends, and large social organizations. In the
US chronic illness can quickly bankrupt a family if they are uninsured and,
if insured, they are left to the tender mercies of a profit driven system
that is as
friendly as Her Majesty, Queen MacBeth. That said, it seems to me a bit
exteme to deny that there is a substantial psychological component to
chronic illness that may not only be due to a free fall from one social
niche toward the bottom of the social hierarchy, but also there are day to
day hassles, physiological causes of mental suffering, loss of control, and
disruption and redefinition of close relationships that are difficult for
many people. These challenges may indeed lead to transformation including
political activism.To address these concerns outside a social justice
framework is certainly misguided. But to simply dismiss this side of the
experience and the real possibility of effective assistance in a limited
domain seems to me too narrow a view.
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