Epilepsies, Identities, and Difference: Horizons of Meaning for Individuals with an Epilepsy

Abstract

Since the late 1970s and early 1980s, epilepsy has emerged as a dynamic vehicle through which the social construction of illness can be researched. However, in various ways these efforts have remained somewhat stagnant and have concentrated on specific themes of the experience, such as stigma. To "reenergize" the field, the author focuses on the stories of three individuals with an epilepsy and employs an analytic vocabulary derived from Gubrium and Holstein along with contemporary theoretical arguments concerning the construction of identity and meaning to concentrate on the divergent and peculiar nature of the epilepsy experience. Drawing its dynamics from the poststructuralist concept of difference, this article discusses and analyzes the fragmented and ensembled identities of the individual with an epilepsy. Last, the importance of future efforts in the cross-disciplinary study of the illness experience are highlighted and discussed.