Abstract

This is a multidisciplinary account of the major factors influencing the ways in which states of wellness or illness are explained by professionals and experienced by lay people. The book examines the different accounts of disease causation produced by research in epidemiology, biology and sociology, and the different meanings attached to states of illness by doctors, patients and the media. It explores the ways in which prevailing social norms affect the status of the sick person, and seeks explanations for the stigmatisation that discriminates against people with certain conditions, while others are considered innocent victims of disease. These themes are developed in five case studies of highly contrasting conditions: rheumatoid arthritis, HIV and AIDS, asthma, schizophrenia and chronic pain. These case studies illustrate the complex difficulties for lay people and professionals in explaining and managing the disease and the physical, social and emotional dimensions of the illness experience.