Imagery in Chronic Illness: Balancing the Poetic with the Pragmatic
Imagery has long served as a bridge in human communication, helping to convey complex ideas through more familiar or tangible concepts. In the realm of chronic illness (or conditions), imagery can play a dual role—both enlightening and obscuring the true nature of living with long-term health conditions.
Common Imagery and Metaphors Used to Describe Illness
There’s the use of "batteries” to describe energy levels, which I’ve used recently in one of my social media posts, and "spoons" from the Spoon Theory, developed by Christine Miserandino, which symbolises the limited energy resources people with chronic conditions have each day. There’s “icebergs” depicting what isn’t obvious on the surface, a backpack full of bricks to symbolise the baggage or trauma we all carry. In the media, we often see the semantic field of combat making the headlines, with “to fight COVID”, “battle cancer” or more famously “the war against cancer.”
The Usefulness of Imagery
Imagery can offer several benefits in discussing chronic conditions:
Empathy and Understanding: They can help those without the condition to grasp the severity or nature of an experience they have never had. For instance, using metaphors (a form of imagery) to describe pain as "burning" or "stabbing" gives a vivid mental image that can evoke empathy from listeners or readers.
Emotional Expression: For many dealing with chronic conditions, metaphors provide a powerful tool for expressing the emotional and psychological impact of their illness. It helps in articulating the otherwise indescribable aspects of their experiences, expressions such as “my body is on fire” and “yesterday, I was swept by pain”.
Coping Mechanism: Metaphors can serve as a coping mechanism, allowing individuals to frame their journey with these conditions in a way that gives them comfort or a sense of control. Take the "Spoon Theory" for instance; it uses spoons as symbols of energy, allowing individuals to visualise and allocate their limited energy throughout the day. With this metaphor, one might begin the day with ten spoons, and each activity, whether it's showering, cooking, or working, costs a certain number of spoons.
The Limitations and Risks
However, relying on imagery to describe illness can also present significant drawbacks:
Misinterpretation: As Susan Sontag argued in her seminal work, "Illness as Metaphor," equating illness with metaphors can lead to stigmatisation and misinterpretation. Sontag emphasises that illness should be viewed in straightforward terms, without the often misleading and harmful implications of metaphorical thinking.
Oversimplification: Imagery can oversimplify complex medical conditions, leading to misunderstandings about the seriousness or nature of an illness. This can affect how both society and the medical community treat those with chronic conditions.
Masking Reality: There's a risk that imagery might mask the true nature of an illness, making it harder for others to understand the real challenges faced by those who are ill. It can create a barrier to genuine understanding and support. The romanticisation of illness in women in Victorian times was hardly helpful!
Striking a Balance
To navigate the delicate balance between the usefulness of poetry and the practical risks of imagery in the context of chronic illness, consider the following approaches:
Educational Outreach: Use imagery to engage but always follow up with clear, factual information that educates the audience about the realities of the condition and provides a more grounded understanding.
Patient-Centred Communication: Metaphors should be used carefully and sparingly by healthcare professionals. Encouraging direct descriptions avoids cultural misrepresentation and misinterpretation of the patient's experience. Clear communication fosters a better understanding.
Awareness Campaigns: Campaigns can use imagery to capture attention but should prioritise conveying accurate information about symptoms, treatment, and living with the condition.
In the discourse on chronic illness, imagery is a double-edged sword. It should be used carefully. Even if it can be the right tool in certain situations to make others understand better, shifting towards a more nuanced, intersectional and direct language is preferable, thus avoiding stigmatisation, further educating and growing empathy. In addition to Susan Sontag's ‘Illness as a Metaphor’, I would like to recommend some other incredible works that achieve this:
Blue by Derek Jarmon
By advocating for a balanced approach that respects the complexities of medical conditions while harnessing the communicative power of metaphors, society can better support those living with chronic illnesses, enabling everyone to thrive.
I'd never thought of this. As often happens, you've changed my perspective on how we talk about our illnesses and the situations of others in a way that invites empathy and deep thought.