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.
Access
- Link: http://mh.bmj.com/content/48/2/e5.abstract
Details
Language: English
Type of Story: Journal Article
Medium: written
Contributed by: Health Story Hub Team ( health-storyhub@uiowa.edu )
Citation:
Adams, E. T., & Buchbinder, M. (2022). Narratives of prevention and redemption in opioid overdose obituaries. Medical Humanities, 48(2), e5. https://doi.org/10.1136/medhum-2021-012143