ABSTRACT
The potential beneficial effects for those who are ill of telling their story has been long recognized in many cultures and has received attention from philosophers, social scientists, and medical practitioners alike. Illness, treatment, or death challenge those who are affected to construct meanings that create a tolerable narrative for what appears to be
inexplicable; in such a context, storytelling is viewed as a form of communication that can help people successfully cope with and reframe illnesses and, thereby, create the paradoxical possibility of being “successfully ill.” Frank (1995), a sociologist at the University of Calgary, argued that illness may be thought of as a call for stories, in that becoming ill often triggers narratives that help affected individuals to redraw their self-maps, in light of changed circumstances.
