Patient Narratives

"Narratives" or stories have been used throughout the history of the human race to allow and help people to express themselves in ways that promote personal growth and enhance physical well-being. Even in the simplest of contexts, narratives are a core factor in the advancement of the humanity/society and all of its facets. An illustration of this can be seen in the transfer of a family's lineage, history, and values from generation to generation. This allows for the recipient of this information to have a greater knowledge of his/her own family and the history surrounding it. Oral narratives and writings, such as journals, stories, or speeches to others are stress-relieving mechanisms that can reduce the external stress. The narrating of one's thoughts definitely does not initially affect the external stressors one is facing. Narrating does, however, allow one to share these feelings with others and to organize one's thoughts around these issues.

Disease?

Hippocrates: a conventionalized image in a Roman "...

The Doctor, by Sir Luke Fildes (1891)

More significantly, narrative opportunities such as these, work to encourage and advance constructive contexts in which individuals such as a mother and daughter or father and son can openly communicate any differences, worries, or problems one might be having with daily living. A more important and serious issue interlaced with narratives is the "personal issue of telling stories about illness…" (Frank, ch.1 pg.2) Narratives are the beginning to the process of healing.

By definition, the term "healing" is best understood as a natural process by which the body repairs itself. Although rather simplistic sounding, healing's true definition or meaning is a much more complicated issue. When analyzing healing, it is imperative for an individual to not view the words "healing" and "curing" as the same words. Healing raises much deeper, hidden issues than curing does. I once was talking with a buddy about his...