Caregivers’ Interpretations of Time and Biography

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease is a disabling, chronic condition with an uncertain trajectory. It disrupts taken-for-granted routines and biographical expectations among sufferers and spousal caregivers alike. Biographical disruption and biographical work are guiding frameworks among researchers studying the experiences of people with chronic illness. Time is a fundamental component of biographical trajectories, but little research explicitly engages George Herbert Mead’s nonlinear theory of time to make sense of biographies. Using qualitative interviews with eight caregivers and participant observation with a Parkinson’s support group, this paper shows how Mead’s conception of time allows for a fluid, processual understanding of biography. My research suggests that caregivers do biographical and time work when a spouse is ill. They reinterpret the past, present, and future to sustain biographical continuity and a meaningful sense of self and other.