When I am ill, the disconnect between health and social processes becomes apparent. As a part time student struggling with a full time job, coming down with an illness means falling behind at school and work. Rarely do social institutions (school, work, etc.) accommodate the inescapable reality of sickness, having a profound effect on how one experiences illness, and how this experience transcends into ones every day social interaction. For instance, when I become ill I must take time off work, which means less money, which greatly affects my quality of life. Moreover, falling behind at school warrants immense stress, again, greatly affecting my quality of life. In essence, my social reality is severely impacted when I am ill, and the supports in place to help a patient struggling with illness re-claim their capability and identity are few and far between.

Although I cannot say that I have ever suffered any serious ailments in my life, nevertheless, what I found most striking about this week’s readings is how fitting they were to my own experiences with illness. Given these experiences, coupled with the growing body of literature positing the idea that identity and social experience are altered by illness, I find it ironic that the opposite is rarely recognized in contemporary medical literature. That is, that just as illness shapes our social reality, our social reality simultaneously shapes our experience with illness (as reflected in this week’s readings). Furthermore, it is surprising that despite countless pieces of evidence that assert the need for, and benefits of, an understanding of the social underpinnings of disease and illness, contemporary approaches to disease and illness are framed as natural, or unaffected by social interaction.