ABSTRACT
This chapter considers some of the theoretical and empirical evidence as to why people use narratives following trauma and ill-health; the impact upon both readers and writers; identifies some factors that complicate our understanding. The use of narratives as a primary resource for creating meaning and purpose, along with their capacity to bring structure to complex and unexpected events is discussed at length in the literature. Narratives following illness allow the authors to decide for themselves what is important and which words they will use to describe their experiences, enabling not only structure and meaning to be created. Neuro-narratives are less commonly created with the intention of publication in academic journals or books, and indeed they rarely feature in the medical and academic literature, unless written by someone already familiar with publishing in such journals. The chapter concludes with the need to approach narrative use with caution in some cases.
