Submission Medium: written

Narratives of prevention and redemption in opioid overdose obituaries

This journal article could be used as an example of social scientific study of naturally-occurring health narratives: those found in obituaries, an uncommon source to look for stories of opioid overdose. Raises topics of how overdose and other stigmatized health conditions are (and are not) discussed; might be combined with a literary account of addiction to show humanities vs social science understandings of a phenomenon.

Abstract: Obituaries of people who died from an opioid overdose represent a new territory for understanding cultural narratives of the US opioid epidemic. Drawing on textual analysis of 30 opioid overdose obituaries published on Legacy.com between 2015 and 2020, we describe a prototypical narrative conveyed through opioid overdose obituaries, which renders symbolic meaning through the voices of the bereaved. Obituary authors reimagine their subjects as tragic heroes and reconstitute opioid addiction as a curse, plight or affliction that befalls its victims. Many of these obituaries invoke the language of public health, calling for reform, action or general awareness so other families might avoid the havoc and heartbreak of opioid addiction. We argue that obituaries contribute to broader cultural narratives of opioid addiction by reproducing tragic storylines, vindicating and humanising the deceased, framing opioid addiction as a societal, rather than individual, problem, and medicalising addiction as a brain disease beyond a persons control. Obituary texts thus intertwine a personal story with a broader societal health crisis, transforming stories of the deceased into cautionary tales and public health warnings.Data are available upon request.

“She Didn’t Think Fat Women Deserved to Have Children”: Memorable Messages From Healthcare Providers in the Context of Fat Pregnancy

Infertility is physically, emotionally, psychologically, financially, and socially challenging. For people in larger bodies, infertility challenges are intensified as providers often blame them for their inability to conceive or carry a pregnancy to term. Authors used a strategy common in communication research for 30+ years to elicit “memorable messages,” all of which have to have a story behind them. Primary themes in these messages were (a) body size is a primary reason for infertility, (b) weight loss will lead to a successful pregnancy, and (c) denial of care. The method might be used or modified as a way to elicit health narratives. Particularly useful for a research methods course or to document fat-shaming from participants’ perspective.

Viaje Alrededor De Mi Cabeza. Una Historia De Mi Calvicie

Alejandro Badillo talks about his baldness and how being bald is not only a medical condition but also a cultural condition. When he was 17 years old, Alejandro’s hair began to disappear. The technical term for his condition is androgenic alopecia. Among the descriptions of how to be bald, Alejandro includes a lot of historical, philosophical, and cultural information on baldness. His personal story has deep connections to the experiences of other bald people.

Y Si Ya No Puedo, ¿Qué Hago?: Un Relato De Infertilidad

This story (10 minute read) describes the reality of being infertile when a woman yearns to have children. Patricia Cruz Pineda is a rare case (currently one in a million) who cannot have children naturally or using IVF. She and her husband divorced because his frustrated desire to be a father led to him start drinking heavily. She will never have children, and focuses on advice for women in her situation: focus on family, friends, and the community, and avoid events like children’s parties and baby showers for a while. Most useful for a community group focused on women’s health issues. Written in Peninsular dialect and very directive, which might draw mixed reactions from Latinx/Latin American readers.

Historia de una cicatriz

Melania Mosteiro is a Spanish life coach who bases her perspective and approach in her experience of having been born with a minor deformity that makes her face appear slightly crooked. She was very ashamed of this deformity and when she was 17 years old, she underwent an operation to correct it. The operation didn’t change much, but as she waited for the next operation, her point of view changed. She realized that her scars are a part of her, and she was finally satisfied with her appearance. 8 minute read; upper intermediate Spanish readers. Useful to discuss body image.

Bipolarations

David Martinez tells of his experience with bipolar disorder through childhood flashbacks that detail his family’s desire to deny that anything was “wrong,” their wariness of therapy, his placement in a classroom for “troubled” youth, his dropping out and his drug use. He describes the relief it was to receive, at age 32, a diagnosis and prescription medication for his condition and his subsequent work to integrate “the boy” he was and the college professor he is now. His story provides insight into how he experiences the “highs” and “lows” of his bipolar condition. He includes self-portraiture to tell his story. A recurring theme is uncertainty about what is “real”–his euphoric and dysphoric experiences, his diagnosis–and the distinction between internal experience and how one appears to others.

The essay could prompt discussion about the role of family in encouraging or discouraging treatment for mental health issues, the reasons why people may not take medications, the ways people mask or express mental health experiences.

This essay appeared in Please See Me, an online literary journal that features health-related stories by members of vulnerable populations, and those who care for them.

Please See Me

Online literary journal that features health-related stories in the form of fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and art, as well as the occasional film and interview. Issues include multiple works around a specific theme (e.g., Pain, Hope, Mental Health, Women’s Health). Work features voices of patients, providers and “healthcare consumers” from their own experiences and perspectives. Written submissions are 4000 word maximum.

Examples of featured works include: A mixed media art piece on pain, grief, and hopelessness from an artist dealing with loss and addiction (lil peep in Issue #2: Pain), a poem about medical debt (“Johns Hopkins Sues Patients, Many Low-Income, for Medical Debt” in Issue #9: Open Call), and a mother’s experience raising a son with intellectual disabilities and grappling with an Alzheimer’s diagnosis (Forgetting Aiden in Issue #1: Conversation).

Film can help us look disability in the eye.

This editorial (2 pages plus 4 links to videos) argues that US Americans are uncomfortable with disabilities and that filmmaking can make it easier for them to do so. The author tells his story of being misunderstood and having awkward interactions many times because of his condition (medical name not given) that he calls “whale eyes:” misalignment of his eyes so people can’t tell where he’s looking. He started by making a film his senior year in college to show his family how the world looks to him and how he works around his condition to read, write, cook, and navigate the world. From there he started making more films with disabled people – one with face blindness, another going blind, a stutterer – so they could tell their stories in similar ways. Videos linked to the article are 8-12 minutes long and all focus on “experiencing” the disability: See what the face-blind person experiences (recognizable faces are shown upside down and sure enough, you can’t identify them). Listen to the stutterer actively filtering out their fluency issues with an imaginary machine called a “Listenometer.” Useful as insight into non-medically focused stories of disabilities, or as examples for a digital storytelling activity.

Unmasked: Illustrating Covid-19 in Okoboji

Emily Mendenhall wrote a book, “Unmasked: Covid, community, and the case of Okoboji” based on 87 interviews with people in her hometown of Lake Okoboji, Iowa in 2020. This graphic narrative, illustrated by another native of Lake Okoboji, condenses that scientific/cultural report into full-color panels of comic strip interspersed with description and analysis. Much more compelling for most undergrads than a chapter of the book would be, it focuses on “cultural squabbles and social complexities of the first pandemic year in …a tourist town in northwest Iowa.” Could also illustrate the work of a medical anthropologist within her own community rather than in an exotic location.

The internet still thinks I’m pregnant.

This is both a podcast and a print version. Author downloads an app as soon as she finds out she’s pregnant, enters personal information (due date, last menstrual period), and enjoys the pictures and info that come along every week. Then she miscarries and deletes the app, but personal information has been sold to various other companies so she receives marketing as though she’s still pregnant and even a box of formula samples just before her due date. She finds a way to laugh at this and take early miscarriage in stride, but muses on the irony of her pregnancy being such public property when she had told almost no one before she lost it.

Useful for reflecting on the various audiences and media for our health narratives: the story we tell close friends and family interpersonally, but also the “story” that is revealed by apps and purchases.

Although the author ends on a humorous note, the essay does also include details of pregnancy disclosure and health care for miscarriage.