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The
Story Telling Dimension of the Gary
E. Myers
Patients suffering from serious illness suffer in a twofold way. They suffer from the physical deterioration caused by their disease, and they suffer from a crisis of meaning that damages the self. As a result, patients call out for medical treatment to address physical suffering and for stories to restore meaning and to heal the self. The stories that physicians and patients author and tell about illness and treatment critically influence the quality of care that patients receive at the end of life. Although authoring illness narratives is a deeply personal act, it does not occur in isolation from the fund of stories, images, and symbols used by the wider culture to interpret the meaning of significant life events. This paper examines how culturally based illness narratives influence the stories we tell about illness, shape the physician-patient relationship, and affect treatment choices.
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