The hidden disability dilemma for the preservation of self

Abstract

Abstract Oliver Sacks’ work focuses our attention on the use of narrative and the issue of the “preservation of self.” Chronic illness and acquired disabilities require a reappraisal of one's concept of self and often result not only in a modification of self concept but modifications of one's self narrative and occupational behaviours as well as strategies for the preservation of the emotional and physical self. Hidden disabilities, those not easily discerned by others, present unique challenges to this reappraisal, both because they are hidden and because they can often be kept hidden. This paper draws on the narratives of two small groups of women with hidden disabilities ‐ women from Hawaii with Temporomandibular Joint Syndrome(TMJ) and women from Australia with “hidden” Multiple Sclerosis(MS) . In their narratives we see a struggle towards the reconciliation of a dilemma for the preservation of self: if the illness or disability is kept hidden one can maintain a certain public image of self but there...