In an attempt to understand the social construction of illness, it is first imperative to appreciate what is meant by the social construction of health. The social construction of health deals with how human beings manage issues that relate to health, illnesses, disorders, and diseases among the sick and the healthy. In this regard, the society has its unique construction in a number of health indicators, illness being included. Therefore, this leads to what is referred to as the social construction of illness or the illness experience. The hallmark of this perception is based on the concept of reality as an important tool in social construction.
The concept of reality as a tool in social construction means that there is no one single objective reality as to what the illness experience amounts to. People can therefore only have various perceptions about it. Some aspects of the social construction of illness include how patients control the way in which they use in revealing their ailments and some of the lifestyle adaptions employed by the patients in a bid to cope with their diseases. It is imperative to note that the construction of the illness experience greatly depends on both the individual personality and culture.
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The illness experience can have great impacts on how people perceive the world around them. For example, a period of lengthy illness can play a huge role in making the world appear smaller to an individual. On the contrary, others can view illness as an opportunity to reimage and discover a new self. Culture is at the forefront t in influencing how people perceive the illness experience. Diseases such as cancer and AIDS have cultural identities that have changed ever since and determine how the society views them.
