What I found interesting about the Charmaz paper is when it mentions chronic illness does not always produce negative results for the patient. It could be that when the patient recovers from a lengthy and serious illness, it provides an opportunity for ‘re-evaluation and change of self’. The fact that they had been absent from daily routines gave them an opportunity to discover themselves and provide a foundation for their future development.
There is also mention of how patients latch on to positive comments made by healthcare workers, even if they were throwaway comments, and they were more able to regard themselves positively as a result (and vice versa). A patient’s sense of self also depends on family members, with one example being given of a wife who kept her husband ‘engaged in conversation’ despite his slurred speech, and who kept an eye on his mood and condition; “She knows what’s happening to me better than I know myself”, he said with pride.
But Charmaz does mention that people who are going through serious crises of debilitating illness were generally less positive, and watching the videos on rheumatoid arthritis, I found that to be the case, with talk mainly revolving around treatments and how difficult life is. So maybe general outlook depends on the stage of the illness one is at, how serious it is, and indeed what condition they are suffering from.
