Affiliations 

  • 1 Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine, Monash University Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia
Chronic Illn, 2018 03;14(1):42-53.
PMID: 28441882 DOI: 10.1177/1742395317699450

Abstract

Objectives Chronic illness is known to disrupt and redirect the usual course of work trajectories. This article aims to portray the longitudinal course of negotiating work after multiple sclerosis. Methods Using therapy and personal journals to reconstruct memories and experience, an autoethnography is produced and narrated within Campbell's "Hero's Journey" automythology framework. Results The narrative highlights the intrasubjectivity of illness meaning-the changing internal meaning-making and external behavior and decision-making dynamics. The journey of being inhibited to "Work Right", to "Looking for the Right" and ultimately, finding "Right Work" is charted; portrayed as a bittersweet maneuver to achieve work-illness equilibrium. Discussion This journey traverses a spectrum of negative coping-the exhibition of deviant work behaviors, disengagement and depression; to recalibration and renewal; culminating in living the "new normal", and finding moral and meaningful work engagements. Life trajectories with chronic illness are often skewed and redirected; but longitudinal narratives of normalization and coping also highlight the pursuits to secure and maintain a life of meaning and value.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.