ABSTRACT
Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. “Pooh” he whispered. “Yes, Piglet?” “Nothing” said Piglet, taking Pooh’s paw, “I just wanted to be sure of you.” (Milne 1992, p. 265)
Reports of “loss of self” or “change in self-identity” are becoming increasingly common in research looking at the lived experience of illness or disability. The purpose of this chapter is to explore this concept in more depth, to look at what people might mean when they report a change in self-identity, to examine what the mechanisms underlying this might be, and to present the argument that perhaps greater attention should be paid by rehabilitation services to problems with self-identity resulting from disability or illness.
